Papa's Back
by Innortal
Summary: A father lost for a lifetime returns. Will a daughter accept her past? Will her future accept the man she lost fourteen years ago? Makoto Kino must learn of her father: Ranma Kino, the man formerly known as Ranma Saotome.
1. Welcome Back

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 1**

**Welcome Back**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

* * *

Makoto sat at her dining room table with the man who had knocked on her door minutes ago. She didn't really know who he was but, judging by how nervous he was, she knew he must have been extremely nervous about his news. "Well, you said you had something to tell me?"

He scratched the back of his head, before returning to staring at her, showing a smile of pride. "Well...I'm not really certain how to begin."

"The beginning helps." She wasn't really certain why she let him in. It just felt natural to trust him.

He nodded. "Well, first I need a glass of hot water and one of cold water."

She looked at him with confusion, before heading to her sink to fill two glasses with tap water.

When she returned, she sat the glasses before him. "Well?"

He stopped, staring at her again, then stood up while holding the glasses in opposing hands. "Well, I hope you believe in magic."

She nodded. She was a Sailor Senshi. How could she not believe in magic?

He continued. "Well, I may look like I'm at most eighteen, but I'm closer to sixty." Ignoring her disbelieving stare, he continued. "You see, when I was sixteen, my father took me to a cursed training ground, filled with cursed pools. If you fall into one, you change with cold water into a form that mirrors whatever drowned in it. It makes you look like what you would have been born had you been born like that." He dumped the cold water over his head, amazing her by changing into a busty redhead. "I fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl, so I turn into a form that resembles my mother at my age."

She stood before her, poking her breasts. "Just like your mother: that was how she reacted as well."

Makoto stared into the neo-girl's eyes. "You knew my mother?"

The neo-girl nodded, before dumping the hot water over her head, reverting back to male. Motioning for her to sit, he continued. "You see, for some reason, my curse keeps me young. In truth, I look now like I did when I first fell in.

"Anyway, when your mother first met me, she poked my chest as well. You see, our baka fathers swore their children would marry, and she wasn't exactly thrilled I was a female when I arrived." He sighed. "Well, not at first."

Seeing her confusion, he decided to elaborate. "Well, my curse spooked your mother. It wasn't until about eighteen months later that we got together and married."

Makoto blinked. "Are you saying my mom was married before she met my father?"

Ranma looked sad. "Let me finish my story first, please. I...I'll try to answer any questions you have afterwards, even if you hate me for the answers."

Seeing her nod, he continued. "About three years after we met, when she was a sophomore in Business College and I was a freshman, we got married. You see, her younger sister was the one I was originally engaged to, but her paranoia and desire to be controlling destroyed our relationship.

"When your mother and I married, we had forsaken our given names, as proof that we were getting married for love, not for family promises."

He looked down at his cup of tea. "Well, that and our worthless fathers had destroyed both family's honor."

He looked into Makoto's eyes once again, a sense of pride coming from him. "Anyway, after we graduated, and she began her business, I started teaching in local dojos. I was damn good, but she was really the breadwinner. About a year later, we had a daughter."

Makoto blinked, wondering if maybe she had a half-sister somewhere.

But he continued. "When she was four, we discussed having another child. I was worried that it would harm her business, or maybe make our first child feel less loved. But knowing how much she wanted another child, I would have been willing to be the birth mother for it, just to make her happy."

Seeing Makoto's questioning look, he elaborated. "Well, my curse is a permanent one; there are temporary ones that last for one shot, twenty-four hours at the most. She would have just needed a supply of Instant Nanniichuan, and as soon as my female form was pregnant, my curse would have self-locked until the baby was born."

Makoto nodded, seeming to believe, so he continued.

"Well, before we could decide, the Grand Master of our family's martial arts school found us.

"That guy was a total pervert, only concerned with whatever could benefit him. He was pissed because, when I disappeared, he lost his favorite plaything. You see, he loves to feel girls up, and seemed to especially enjoy doing it to me. Hell, the pervert even used a technique to lock away my strength once because I wouldn't submit to him.

"Anyway, when he found us...he decided we needed to be taught a lesson, so he summoned a powerful demon to do his dirty work."

Ranma took a calming breath, looking into his tea again. "The pervert was evil and petty. Bastard didn't even know he wasn't in control until the demon killed him.

"Then it turned on us, determined to kill us and wreak havoc on this world. I...I tried to fight it the best I could. I mean, hell, I killed a Phoenix God, but this demon was far beyond that."

Ranma stared into her eyes, causing strange feelings to well up in Makoto. Shaking his head, he continued, tears beginning to flow down his cheeks. "Despite my best efforts, he...he killed Nabiki while she tried to protect you."

Makoto had a memory flash. It wasn't the one where her Aunt and Uncle informed her that her parents had died in a plane crash...

* * *

"MOMMY!" cried the little Makoto as her mother lay on the ground, blood pooling from her chest.

"Ma...Mako-chan..." the woman called, her hands reaching for her daughter, her ran to her mother's side. "I...I guess I won't be around much longer."

Makoto looked towards her father, now fighting the demon like a man possessed.

Her mother placed a hand on her face, making certain that the little girl looked into her eyes. "I love you, no matter what. Just promise me you'll be like your dad, and protect those weaker than you."

"I promise, Mommy!" cried the little girl, hoping her mommy would be okay.

The woman smiled. "I lost my mother when I was seven, Mako-chan. I...I wanted to be there for you. Be strong, Mako-chan. Be strong."

Those were the last words her mother said, before the life left her eyes. "Mommy? Wake up, Mommy. Mommy? Mommy!"

"YOU BASTARD!" screamed her father. She turned to see him glowing intensely. "I won't let you hurt anyone ever again!"

"Foolish mortal!" screamed the demon. "You can't kill me!"

Her father stepped back. "Maybe...maybe not. But I can make certain you never harm anyone in this world ever again."

She watched as her father pushed the demon back towards the portal, before rushing it, and causing both to fall into the portal.

That was the last she ever saw of her father.

* * *

"You remember, don't you?"

She shook her head. "They told me they died in a plane crash."

The man laughed a little. "How could a four-year-old cope with the fact her parents were taken from her by a demon?"

She looked at him. "Then does that make you my...papa?"

He nodded. "I spent forty years in that world. I...I did kill that thing after I forced him there, and spent the rest of the time trying to get home to you." He slid a locket across the table. "This was all I had to remember you two."

She opened it up. In the left half was a wedding photo of him and a girl with brown hair in a pageboy haircut. The second was a picture of the same couple, and a little girl with long brown hair.

Makoto recognized the picture. She had an identical one in the locket she always wore. "Daddy?"

It was a difficult question for her to ask. But he admitted he was kept young by his curse, that he had been gone for over thirteen years as far as she knew, but that time had passed faster for him in that world. But could he be...?

He nodded, confirming what she had been thinking. "I...I didn't know if I could kill him with you around. He was strong enough to lash out to kill your mother, I...I didn't want to risk you." He looked deep into her eyes. "Better to be killed by myself, than risk you. So I forced him back through the portal, hoping it would shut after that."

Makoto didn't care for his reasons at the moment.

She only cared that he was back. "DADDY!"

The man—formerly known as Ranma Saotome, formerly known as Ranma Kino—felt his daughter slam into him.

He held her, stroking her hair as she cried into his chest. She was his daughter, his only link to the former Nabiki Tendo, then his wife, Nabiki Kino. He comforted her as she cried, before she eventually fell asleep.

Sighing, he carried her to the lone bedroom in the apartment, saddened that none of Nabiki's sisters had stayed with the girl. So, he tucked her in and returned to the kitchen, cleaning up, before hitting the couch to sleep himself. Tomorrow there would be plenty of days to enjoy his return to Earth, to enjoy being in his daughter's life.

All that mattered to him was that she was safe.

And that he would ensure she stayed that way.


	2. Reunions

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 2**

**Reunions**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

* * *

Makoto slowly sat up in bed, an intoxicating smell of pancakes reaching her nose, causing her stomach to rumble.

Smiling, she stretched, feeling off.

Looking at herself, she saw why.

She was small. She was...a child? _Wait. Was it all a dream? If it was..._ "MOMMY!"

The chibi-Makoto raced off into the kitchen, hoping against hope that the person behind the counter was the one woman she had always prayed to see again.

Turning a corner, she saw the object of her desire, setting a stack of pancakes on the counter, before the woman turned to her, bowing to her knees, and holding her arms out.

"MOMMY!" Chibi-Makoto launched herself at the woman, arms encircled, and head buried in her chest, crying. "Mommy! You're alive!"

The woman smiled, picking up the little girl, and cradling her to her body. "It's okay, Mako-chan. Mommy's here."

The little girl pulled her head back, tears still flowing down her face. "I had a bad dream, Mommy. You were gone, and Daddy disappeared, but he came back, and... But it was all a bad dream and you're still here and..."

The woman took a deep breath, before setting the crying girl on the counter top, never losing her grip. "Mako-chan, that wasn't the dream."

"Huh?" Makoto could feel her heart seizing up. No, this had to be real. If it wasn't...

Seeing the fear in her daughter's eyes, Nabiki Kino decided to stop it. "Honey, I'm visiting you, just like Queen Serenity does on occasion to Usagi."

Makoto's fear didn't shrink.

Seeing the paling of her daughter, Nabiki elaborated. "No, I'm not a monster. I'm just here in spirit. But, it takes a lot of effort, so I don't have as much time as I would like. Do you understand?"

Seeing the sniffling girl nod, she continued. "Now, I know Ranma came back. I want you to inform your friends, because I doubt your Father would enjoy being blasted by the trigger happy Senshi."

Makoto nodded. "Why haven't I seen you before?"

She sighed again. "Perception is key to stuff like this, Mako-chan. Usagi could never be with her past mother like this until she accepted the reality that she did exist. And until Ranma came back..."

Makoto knew now. "I couldn't accept the fact that you could still exist."

Nabiki nodded. "Normally, I should have returned to the... Well, let's just call it a place where souls go to, to be reborn. But, I wanted to guard you, until I saw if you were going to be great. But, then things kept shifting badly for you, you moved to be by yourself so Kasumi and Tofu wouldn't lose their practice, then you became a Senshi..."

Taking another breath, Nabiki smiled. "I'm proud of the hero you've become, even if you do it flashing your panties at the enemy."

"MOOOOOM!"

Nabiki ruffled her daughter's hair. "You've always tried to do what's right, and I am proud of that. Though I want you to try and do this Crystal Tokyo thing a little differently. Obviously by the Black Moon family, things weren't done right the first time. And building this place on so many dead is wrong. See if you can find a way to restore life to your world, so you can evacuate survivors."

"Okay, Mommy." She felt like she was being scolded with how her Mother had phrased that.

Nabiki nodded. "Also, tell your Father I am not expecting him to remain a monk. If he can find a new love, then he should go for it."

"But...but..."

"Dear, I know I can't be replaced in either of your hearts. But I saw what happened to my own Father after my Mother died. I want Ranma to find happiness again, without feeling he is betraying me."

"Okay, I'll tell him." She looked towards her Mother's eyes. "Is that really Daddy? He looks so...young."

"Yes, it is. The curse slows his aging in a way, plus he does know a few techniques to slow it further. To tell the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if he outlives Sailor Pluto. So, I think it'll be safe to assume some of your friends will be after him. Do you think Minako would make a nice step-mom?"

"MOM! I am not letting my friends date my Father!"

Before she knew it, Makoto found herself in a squeezing hug. "Mako-chan, you have no idea how long I've wanted to hold you again, to talk to you, to tell you everything would be all right."

The two women sat crying for a long time, but even dreams have to end, so reality can begin.

"Honey, I've got to go."

Makoto's tears grew anew. "No, I don't want you to go again!"

Nabiki held her daughter's face, her own tears coming as well. "You have to wake up soon. Your Father's cooking breakfast and you still have to tell your friends before they think he is some new enemy, or their newest future spouse."

Makoto's face turned to a scowl. "No way am I letting them anywhere near Daddy!"

"Well, his girl form's red hair could explain how Usa has pink?"

Makoto turned green for a moment. Usagi...as her step-mother...

She was brought out of her musings by a kiss on her forehead.

"Now, I don't know how often I can do this, but I'll try and often as I can. Heh, maybe I can build up to doing this every night. I've got all the time in the world." She picked up her daughter for one more hug. "Goodbye, Mako-chan. Until I see you in your dreams again."

Before Makoto could cry out to beg her to stay, the dream fell away.

* * *

Makoto slowly padded her way towards the kitchen, the smell of pancakes still present; a woman's humming echoing in her ears.

Turning the corner, she saw the source. It was a redheaded woman, wearing the same clothes her Father had worn last night, flipping another pancake onto a plate.

"Daddy?" she asked questionably.

The woman turned to face her, a bright smile still on her face. "Glad to see you didn't forget about your old man."

"Why are you a girl now?"

Ranma blinked. "Well, for some reason, I always preferred to cook while female. One of two things I seem to enjoy better as a woman than as a guy. Kinda weird, huh?"

Makoto nodded, not really getting it herself. "And the other thing?"

Ranma smiled. "Golf." Ranma turned to see her daughter now face-first on the ground. "Oh, did you trip?"

Makoto slowly raised herself up, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous her Father...um, Mother...um, Mama-Papa—_I need to stop spending so much time listening to Hotaru talk about the other Outers_—had just sounded. "You reminded me a little too much of Auntie Kasumi just now."

Ranma smiled. "Well, I try to follow her example. But sometimes, an ass-whooping helps more for some people." Setting the trays on the table, the two sat as Ranma handed out the food. "So, Mako-chan, could you tell me why your aura is saturated with magic?"

Makoto blinked; her bit of pancake inches from her mouth. "Um..."

Ranma sighed. "Just tell me when you're ready, dear. But be careful. I know my aura is saturated with demon energy from where I've been for the last sixty years. I'd hate for someone to attack my little girl simply because they mistook her for a witch or demon."

That made Makoto freeze. If he could tell by her aura she was a magic girl, then the moment he met the other Senshi, he'd know they were magic girls as well. "I...I have to ask my friends before I tell you. It has to deal with them as well."

Ranma nodded as she began to eat her pancakes, eating at speeds that would have surprised people who had known her when she was younger: she was eating at a normal speed. "I understand. I figured I might go and practice in the park near here. I haven't been in normal sunlight for decades."

Makoto blinked.

Ranma smiled. "It may be a dimension, but it still needs a sky. And I'll take a deep blue over puke green any day."

Seeing her nod, she resumed her breakfast.

Steeling herself, Makoto decided to start a conversation she'd never thought she would have. "Dad...Mom talked to me in my dreams last night."

That caused her Father's fork to stop, the woman slowly turning her eyes towards her daughter. "I...see. And what did you two talk about?"

Makoto fidgeted against the expressionless glare her Father was giving her. "She...she says she's okay and still watching over me. She says she's glad you came back, and hopes you eventually remarry if you haven't already. She also told me to inform my friends about your...unique...nature, so that they don't start trying to kill you."

She nodded. "I expected as much. Well, I know why she wants me to move on. Her own Father...he lost himself after her own Mother passed on. But I think I'd rather spend time with my daughter right now than dating." She resumed eating. "So, does that mean you and your friends are devil hunters of some type?"

"S-s-s-sorta," she nervously replied.

"Calm yourself, Mako-chan. I won't pry until you're ready. Just be home before four, so we can spar and start your training."

Makoto felt a smile forming on her face. "Training?"

_Like Father, like Daughter. _"Yes. I need to start training you to fight stuff like that. Revised Anything Goes would really help."

Revised Anything Goes is the school founded by Ranma Kino after he left the Saotome clan. As its name states, it is a revised version of the Anything Goes school, which was mostly a school of deceit, misdirection, and trickery, which any moderately skilled opponent with an IQ higher than an average Eighth Grader could overcome. The revised school was one designed to be honorable, but also dangerous. It was meant to be used against just about anything: humans to demons, Gods to pets, friendly to mortal combat. It was the first project the new husband/wife team had done, and aside from Makoto, it was their greatest accomplishment.

"So, what are you going to teach me?" she asked, excitedly.

"Depends," Ranma said, finishing her portions and taking the dishes to the sink for cleaning. "I need to find out where you stand. Worst case, it'll take you two months to start roof-hopping."

That caused his daughter to blink in surprise. _You mean a normal human can roof-hop like a Senshi? If I can do that as my normal self...and the Senshi powers magnify your natural physical abilities..._

Ranma had to smile as her daughter began to laugh with joy at the prospect of what she could learn.

Not to say Ranma wasn't frightened when that laugh started to twist to more resemble a maniacal chuckle. _Man, she really needs to get out more._

* * *

The girls had all gathered at the Cherry Hill Temple. Rei and Usagi were still fighting over manga, Ami was still studying, even though she had aced her entrance exams to Tokyo U, Minako was looking at cute guys in a new magazine, Hotaru and Usa were chatting, Michiru and Haruka were cuddling on the couch, and Setsuna was sitting in a chair, drinking her tea.

Makoto stood up. "Okay, I called this meeting to tell you all something important."

Usagi jumped for joy. "You finally found your old sempai!"

Makoto blinked. "Uh...no."

Minako chimed in. "You have a date this weekend? And you didn't get one for you kind friend, Minako. I thought we were friends!"

"No, I don't have a date."

"Well, what is it then?" asked Rei, now hiding her mangas under her pillow.

Taking a deep breath, she simple talked in an even voice. "I found out what happened to my Father and Mother, and my Father returned back to this world last night."

"WHAT?" screamed the others, the most surprising being Setsuna.

Makoto nodded. "Apparently, an old pervert summoned a demon lord who killed my Mother, and my Father was taken when he forced the thing back into its own dimension to keep it from killing me. Somehow, he killed it there, and was just now able to find a way to return home."

Setsuna paled. "He...he can't be back."

Makoto directed a glare to the Time Senshi. "Oh, he's back, and don't you dare start to pull some shit that he's a threat to Crystal Tokyo, or so help me, Setsuna, I'll beat your ass...assuming he doesn't beat it for me."

"Setsuna-mama," asked Hotaru, "what's wrong with Makoto's Father?"

"Yeah, Puu," said Usa. "He's a nice guy; I don't see what your problem is?"

"What?" she asked, turning to the two. "You mean he's in Crystal Tokyo."

Usa nodded. "Sensei's been teaching me on occasion when I go back home. Heck, he's even helped us on occasion." She got a small gleam in her eyes. "And now I get to see what he can really do! He's so subdued about his skills in my time. I mean, how am I supposed to believe he can blow up a star unless I finally get to see it!"

"A STAR!" screamed the others.

"Wait a moment," said Ami. "How can he be alive in Crystal Tokyo?"

"Well," Makoto said, "he is kinda immortal thanks to some techniques to slow his age and his curse." Makoto took a deep breath, knowing she had to be absolute in her resolve, or they would find a weakness and attack. "And none of you have permission to date my Daddy!"

The girls all turned to her, even as she looked towards Haruka and Michiru. "And that goes for you two. Just because my Father changes to female because of his Jusenkyo curse, doesn't mean you have my permission to seduce him!"

Soon afterwards, the meeting degraded into chaos as Setsuna was determined to get some answers from Usa, and the other girls were trying to find out about Makoto's Father.

All in all, a normal Senshi meeting.

* * *

Ranma sipped from his tea, looking at the woman across from him. "Thanks for the help, Kasumi. Didn't know I'd have to go through so much trouble to prove I'm still alive."

The woman smiled. "Oh, it was no trouble, Ranma-kun. I'm just glad you finally made it back." She set her cup down. "At least now I won't have to worry so much about Mako-chan being alone. I know she has a lot of friends, but she's still a child in many ways; let alone, in my eyes."

He nodded. "So, judging from her lack of knowledge, I take it the damn tomboy is still holding her grudge?"

Kasumi's eyes saddened a bit. "Yes. Akane...she just couldn't accept things, even after all this time."

Ranma snorted. "Hating me and Nabiki for marrying is one thing, but to hold the grudge against her own niece...especially after what happened thanks to the old lech."

"I know, Ranma," she said, her hand reaching out to take his. "When Mako-chan came to live with us, Akane became bull-headed again, claiming that I was dishonoring the family by accepting her." Kasumi shook her head. "That girl...sometimes, I think it would have been better had she not returned from Jusendo. At least then, we would have had happy memories of her. Not this...wretch she's become now."

It hurt him to hear that almost as much as it hurt her to say that. "I'll have to have a talk with her. The last thing I need is her to find out I'm back and try ruin my daughter's life."

Kasumi nodded. "She'll know soon enough, especially if you begin modeling again."

It had been the career that had kept his family going. After they married, Nabiki set him up as a model for a few companies. It was great money. It had paid for their college, their first home, and even had been enough to keep Makoto well off after their...last moments. "Yeah, I have a few shoots tomorrow: new bikini line they want to see me in."

Kasumi giggled, returning to her tea, and releasing his hand. "I still find it funny you do that as "Ranko" as well."

He smiled. "No reason to be ashamed. Nabiki made me see that I'm the same, no matter what form. I just have to maintain "feminine modesty", or I might end up on the internet again."

The two shared a laugh.

"So," said Kasumi, her voice shifting to a serious tone, "has she told you..."

He shook his head. "She said she had to check with her friends first. Hopefully, she'll tell me." He wasn't surprised Kasumi had picked up on the massive amounts of magic in Makoto's aura. After all, she was a student of Tofu. But like him, she wouldn't pry; only let Makoto know that she was there for her.

"Well then, I better get back to the clinic. Anata gets so lonely without me to watch over him, and I have to keep an eye on Betty. I think that skeleton is jealous of us."

He chuckled a bit. "Be careful, Kasumi. Betty always was able to win him over with her dancing abilities." He stood up, leaving some money. "Thanks for putting my stuff in storage. I'm hoping to get the room ready before Mako-chan comes home."

As he left, he stopped, casting a glance towards a roof top. _I thought I sensed something...something...familiar._

Shaking his head, he continued on. _Must be getting too paranoid._

On the roof top he had been looking at, a spirit shed a single tear. "Be careful, Anata. I have a feeling that Hell is riding in after you. Guard Mako-chan." With that, she faded from even ethereal view, returning to where spirits sleep.

* * *

Omake by DhampyrX2:

Taking a deep breath, she simple talked in an even voice. "I found out what happened to my Father and Mother, and my Father returned back to this world last night."

"WHAT?" screamed the others, the most surprising being Setsuna.

Makoto nodded. "Apparently, an old pervert summoned a demon lord who killed my Mother, and my Father was taking when he forced the thing back into its own dimension to keep it from killing me. Somehow, he killed it there, and was just now able to find a way to return home."

Setsuna paled. "He...he can't be back."

Before Makoto could comment on Setsuna's reaction, the green haired Senshi shot to her feet. "It's much too soon. How could I have run out of time so quickly? My hair's a mess, and my nails...oh kami-sama I look horrible! I need to head to the salon. I'll see you all later," Setsuna fretted before teleporting away.

Makoto, meanwhile, saw a shade of red even deeper than her face had achieved as she growled and shouted, "Get back here Pluto! There will be NO Senshi attempts to seduce my Daddy! That includes YOU, you DESPERATE OLD WOMAN!", before running out of the shrine to hunt down the green-tressed hussy before she tracked down her father.

"Um, does this mean Mako-chan's father is worth the risk, or should we just stand back and be afraid if Setsuna's been waiting on him like that?" Minako asked as every eye turned toward Chibi-Usa.

"Don't look at me. I learned a long time ago to stay far away from anything to do with Mako-chan, Ranma-ojisan, and Puu's need for nookie."

* * *

Omake by GaelicDragon:

Makoto had been in a blind panic for the past five minutes. Once she and her friends had revealed the fact that they were "Sailor Senshi" to him he had this look in his eyes that made her want to run.

Her instincts were correct when he hit a point on her back that had paralyzed her and took a photo album out of his weapons space.

She wanted out of the room...

Hell, she wanted to be out of the damn city.

It was horrible, her beloved father had brought out the thing that children had hated and despised since the invention of the camera...

Her father had brought out the embarrassing baby pictures. Now where to find a place to dig a small hole and bury herself in it.

* * *

Omake by Typhonis:

Makoto out of the house and over with her friends. Check

Take out box with enough food to feed a small army located in stuff space. Check.

Killer outfit on with high heeled shoes. Check.

Edible underwear. Check.

Setsuna Meio grinned evilly and rang the doorbell to Makoto's apartment.

_Finally I'll be able to ride the wild horse. Hope he is as good as Nabiki said he was._


	3. Self Reflection

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 3**

**Self-Reflection**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

* * *

"Seriously, you guys, stop crowding me!"

Makoto sighed, turning back towards the path she was walking, as the other Senshi and moon cat advisors followed her. It wasn't that she didn't want to introduce them to her Father—well, she didn't on the point she knew for a fact how lonely these girls were, and her mom's comment about Usagi as a step-mom was still fresh in her memory—it was that they were hovering around her like they expected her to just grab random strangers and suck their life force.

"But Mako-chan," cried Usagi, "what if he really is a demon out to suck your soul and replace you with a pod person?"

Makoto stopped, grabbing the bridge of her nose. "Usagi, for the last time, he's been in a demon dimension for over sixty years from his perspective. Yes, this means he might read somewhat demonic." She turned to her dumpling headed friend, dropping her voice so only they could hear. "And the last thing you should be doing is questions stories told by dead mothers from dream worlds."

"Besides," she perked up, indicating Usa, "he received the best recommendation on his intentions."

"Yes-sir-re!" chirped Usa. "Just don't get on his bad side. Dad always thought that the reason Wiseman attacked when he did was because Sensei was back on the Hyurn Dimension to take care of a few coup attempts."

They all stared at her. "Um," asked Makoto, "is the Hyurn dimension where he's been for the last fourteen years?"

"I thought he was gone over sixty," said Minako.

"Time moves faster in some dimensions than others. Sometimes, when a doorway is used in the right way, it can sync the time rates of the two universes," said Setsuna, trying to keep a cheerful face.

"Yeah," agreed Makoto, still not trusting the Time Senshi on her reaction to seeing Ranma Kino. The Outers aside from Hotaru were not known for a "ask questions before shooting" approach. "For him, it was over sixty years. For us, it was fourteen. Now, Usa, about the Hyurn..."

Usa nodded. "Yep. That's the name of their world that he was on. I think he was a King there or something. It had something to do with customs and killing the guy in charge, I think."

Blinking followed, which was soon completed by Usagi running wild with her imagination. "WAH! Mako-chan's dad is a blood thirsty dictator!"

Makoto was soon moving her hand from the bridge of her nose to her forehead, feeling a migraine approach. "Usagi...stuff it!" she growled, before twisting on her heel and walking off, as the others ran to catch up with her.

* * *

As she opened the door, Makoto was about to yell out that she was home, when she saw a note.

_Makoto,_

_I'm catching a nap. Red tape and bureaucracy is worse here than in Hyurn—the dimension I was in. Wake me up at 3:30 if I'm not up unless it's raining. Cookies on the table. Made enough if you have friends over. _

_Love, Dad._

_PS: If any of them are guys or lesbians, don't let them poke me. I'm asleep in my girl form._

Sighing, she realized she was given a mixed blessing. As Mamoru was still out of town at university, she was relieved of anything that embarrassing happening that might ruin little Usa's birth.

However, that left at least two Senshi who wouldn't hesitate to try and see if her Dad's breasts were real. She turned back to the group. "Okay, my Dad's sleeping in his girl form, so be quiet and no poking, or no cookies."

She led them to the cookies in the small kitchenette, as the group stared at the sleeping redhead on the couch. Ami kept quiet, but got Makoto's attention and pointed between the hair on her head and that on Ranma's. Makoto held up her hand indicating them to wait, and disappeared into her bedroom, coming back out with a photo of her father in male form and her mother, indicating it was her mother that she got her hair color from.

She didn't miss the looks of longing on some of her friends' faces seeing her Father's male form, nor did she miss that same look on the two Outers currently staring at her Father's female form.

"Now that's a guy I think I can get behind," murmured Haruka, earning her an elbow to the ribs from Michiru.

Seeing the time, she moved over, wanting to wake up her Father. "Dad, time to get up. It's 3:30."

The eyes of said person fluttered open. To those who would wonder, the girls should have been glad it was Makoto who had woken her up, as the land of Hyurn was not known for peaceful wake-ups...if you woke up. Early on, Ranma's Sleep-Fu that his father had beaten into him was soon taken to new levels, when enemies had no problems with killing you in your sleep, or sending animals to do it for them.

But Makoto was family, and Ranma would always trust his/her daughter with their life. It would be some time before he trusted anyone else near him like that. "Hey, Mako-chan."

"Dad, I'd like you to meet my friends."

She sat up, stretching to get the kinks out of her back, reminding herself she really needed to start looking for an apartment or house here in Juuban, as her daughter's couch was really not good in the long term. _Better get a futon for tonight. Can't have muscle knots for the shoot tomorrow._

She didn't miss the increase in eye size from two girls; one with short blond hair and one with aquamarine hair. Nor did she miss the glances of insecurity and jealousy that passed from several of the other girls.

"I'm Ranma Kino, sorry about this." The classics are still the best.

* * *

It was 3:59pm when a heavy rainstorm had just moved in, soaking any plans for Makoto to receive her first lessons today.

Now, however, it was closer to dinner, and the storm had not let up one bit, so the girls sat in the living room, enjoying some light snacks, as Ranma prepared them a dinner.

Lucky he was rich, as it was likely he would have to buy new supplies tomorrow just for breakfast, unless the storm stopped and they went shopping tonight.

Little in the way of Ranma's past or current status was discussed. It was usually a bit of chapter, followed by Ranma being stuck on the phone for several hours trying to get some more of his paperwork through so he could access his bank accounts.

This brought them to now...setting down for dinner.

Several of the girls were drooling at both the smell and the taste of the food, wondering if whoever taught Makoto to cook had done likewise for her Father.

It was after dinner that Setsuna began her questions. "So, what are your plans now, Ranma?"

He stared at her for a bit. "Why would my simple life interest a chrono-mage?"

The others blinked, as did Setsuna. "How...?"

He smiled. "Magic's pretty common on Hyurn. After a while, you can pick that stuff up in a person's aura. Saves time when you have people deciding their paths in magic." He turned towards several of the girls, pointing. "She has an affinity for ice magic, that one seems to rely on love charms, she has fire, that girl needs to work harder on pretending to be a guy if she's not going to bother hiding the fact she has no Adam's Apple, those two have massive magic reserves"—this was said towards Hotaru and Usagi, "she's from the future judging by how her aura seems somewhat out of sync with the normal flow of reality, and the aquamarine girl has a mild gift for scrying and water. Shall I go on?"

"No, that's quite good," said Setsuna, reassessing her level of consideration for the man in front of her.

"My interest is in how your plans might affect those of our little group, of which you daughter is a part of."

Ranma nodded. "Well, assuming you're not trying to take over the world through action or inaction, then we won't have a problem. For right now, my plans are to get to know my daughter, take care of a few family problems before they pop up, get back to modeling, and train my daughter in the family's style."

"Setsuna, can I see you in my bedroom for a moment?" asked Makoto in a sweet voice, though many could tell she was faking it.

"Of course," Setsuna said, also maintaining decorum. "Please excuse me, we'll be back."

* * *

As the door shut, Makoto turned slowly to Setsuna, her eyes now focused and dark, staring at the Time Senshi. "Setsuna, you had better have a damn good reason for the way you're acting."

Setsuna stood her ground, arms folded across her chest. "He is an unknown as far as I'm concerned when it comes to Crystal Tokyo. You heard Little Lady about how strong he is. Even Serenity doesn't have the power to wipe out a sun."

She walked closer to Makoto. "He may be a threat to everything we've worked hard to achieve, and if he is then we—"

Her final comment was cut off by a hard slap from Makoto, knocking her onto the bed.

Makoto glared at her. "Don't you dare threaten the only parent I have left, Setsuna. He got clearance from Usa to be okay, and I'll be damn if I let your paranoid ass cost me my Father. If even the future says he is a good guy, then you better damn well listen to it for once, instead of dreaming that the worst case scenario must be coming." Her tone dropped even further as she approached Setsuna, yanking her to her feet and staring deep into her eyes.

"Now, I'm going to ask you a question, and so help me, that if you don't give me a straight answer, I'll make you wish Usagi left you dead after Galaxia. Do I make myself clear?"

Seeing the nervous nod, she continued. "Did you know?"

Seeing her confusion, Makoto elaborated. "Did you know about the attack that cost me my Mother beforehand and do nothing, or learn of it afterwards and keep it quiet."

As Setsuna paused to gather the ways to phrase the words, Makoto tired and lifted the Senshi up by her dress coat, her legs dangling. "I'm waiting...Setsuna."

Licking her lips, she decided for once...to give a straight answer. "I didn't learn of the attack until afterwards."

Setting her back down on the ground and allowing her to catch her breath, Makoto took a step back. "Explain...now."

"I was in a state of hibernation at the Gates when it occurred, and couldn't be pulled out until either someone tried to alter the past, or Beryl's prison weakened and she began to make her moves. It wasn't until you defeated Beryl that I began to look into what made you the people you were then."

"Why wasn't I told?"

Setsuna snorted. "What good would it have done? If anyone of our enemies had offered you a chance to see him again, would you have betrayed us for it?" Seeing the doubt play on Makoto's face, she continued. "The knowledge would have done nothing. Maybe...MAYBE, Neo-Queen Serenity could have opened a portal to go find him, but for Usagi to even try and attempt would be to invite her own death, and you know damn well she would have tried."

She then looked solemn, her face loosing much of the fire it once held. "If I couldn't go back and save the Moon Kingdom, if I couldn't go back and save one hundred and sixty seven billion people, what makes you think I could go back and save your Mother?"

"Don't give me that!" spat Makoto. "You could have warned the—"

"I couldn't have done anything due to Queen Serenity's doctrine, which forbade me from informing her about future events unless they were natural disasters. The only reason I can do that for Usagi is because she hasn't forbidden me from doing it. Why the hell do you think the Black Moon Family was able to attack? It was because she activated that doctrine again, and I had to watch as her stupid ideals nearly cost us Crystal Tokyo." She sunk more into the bed. "So don't tell me what my duties are and what my responsibilities are. I know them all too well."

If Makoto was affected in any way by her story and response, she didn't show it. "I don't give a damn what your reasons are. From now on, if I even suspect you want to eliminate my Father in some way, you won't have those responsibilities anymore; you'll be plummeting into Jupiter's atmosphere without Senshi magic. Understood?"

Setsuna nodded, and the two entered the dining area once again.

* * *

After the group had parted to head home, each thanking Ranma for making the meal, the Kino family had left to purchase a few things and restock the pantry.

"Dad, if we need to, we can always move." She smiled a bit, watching her father setup the futon on the floor. "Maybe we could get our old home back?"

He shook his head. "Kasumi told me another family moved into it about a decade ago. I won't reclaim my old family home and steal another's from them." He turned to her smiling. "At work, I'll check the housing agencies and see if we can find a two or three bedroom for rent or purchase."

She nodded at that. While shopping, he had discussed with her exactly how much had been in her trust account, not really knowing that her Mother had set things up very well for them all. Even now, she'd never have to work...even as long lived as Senshi were. Hell, she could afford a private army to do her Senshi work for her. So she knew her Dad would have no trouble finding them a home. "Try and find one with a dojo. This rainout for practices isn't very endearing."

He smiled. "My thoughts exactly. We can go check some places out after school tomorrow. My shoot should end before two, anyway."

She nodded, preparing to head to bed and wish him good night, when she found herself held in his arms, triggering a flashback.

* * *

"Yeah!' screamed chibi-Makoto as her daddy picked her up, using some ki to lift them off the ground, and float them to her room.

As he finished tucking her into bed, she smiled up at him. "Daddy, can you teach me to fly too one day?"

He smiled down at her, kissing her on the forehead. "Sure thing, Mako-chan." He looked around, before bending back down to whisper into her ear. "In fact, how about I take you flying this weekend? Just...don't tell your Mom."

She nodded enthusiastically, before snuggling with a stuffed dog, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Makoto returned to reality once again, as her father finished tucking her in. "You never got to take me flying."

He stopped for a moment, before the memory returned to him. The next night was when Happosai had attacked. "I'll still teach you how to fly, if you want?"

She nodded, wondering if he would still take off like a rocket when she had seen him doing it before.

He smiled, turning out the light, and watching her sleep for a moment, before heading to the living room to do the same.

Sitting in a chair, however, it was what he ended up doing, before he took the photo Makoto had shown the other girls, and ran his fingers over the image of his late wife. "Keep watching over us, Koi. I didn't fall apart like your Dad before, and I won't now."

Setting it back on the table, he changed his clothes and went to sleep, knowing it would be a slightly restless one now.

While he dreamt, the moon came from behind some clouds, illuminating the room slightly. In the beam of light stood a woman with brown hair, smiling at him, before she turned to the picture, and lovingly running her finger of the male's image. _I will always watch over you, Anata. Just be there for her now._

And like that, she faded from sight, just as the moon was once again covered by clouds.

* * *

In an apartment on the other side of the District, another person was preparing for bed, looking at her apartment, boxes still everywhere.

Her son was staying with her Father. She hadn't been able to secure the lease soon enough for them to have moved everything in. Sadly, her son would miss his first day of classes.

But, her Father would be bringing him over tomorrow, and they would finish moving into the apartment. The only reason she was here early was because she had a job to start at Juuban High the next day as the new drama teacher; a great boon for her, considering that since Tatewaki had taken over as principle at Furinkan, she couldn't wait to ditch that job.

At the start of the school year, she would begin a new job away from Nerima, away from kendo-spouting fools, away from homosexual ex-husbands. Tomorrow, she would begin teaching drama to a new class that wasn't centered on martial arts.

"Soon, all the students will cheer for their new teacher: Akane Nakamura!" she exclaimed, her long blue hair flapping in the movements.

Neither she nor a certain daughter of a pigtailed martial artist knew they would meet tomorrow, and neither knew what sort of problems this would entail.


	4. Burning Hate

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 4**

**Burning Hate**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

* * *

Ranma sighed as he sat against Nabiki's bed, waiting for her to return.

It wasn't that he was scared for her safety. No one knew what they were planning...at least, no one that could legally object without **severe** repercussions.

The only possible threat would have been from the Amazons, and they had left a few months ago.

_Nabiki still hasn't told me what she did to get them to go. I just hope she didn't do something stupid, like have them deported._

The girl had absolutely refused to explain how she had single-handedly managed to remove them from Ranma's throat. All he knew was that they left without a word, the Nekohanten boarded up, and nothing remaining of their presence.

Despite her protests, the pigtailed man was still worried that Shampoo or the Old Ghoul would hop out and strike her down.

He shook his head of such thoughts. Nabiki would know better at this point if she was safe or not. The girl had a danger sense almost as developed as his.

He just used his to keep himself alive while she used hers to make profit.

Well...used to, anyway.

Now, they both received money from Ranma/Ranko's modeling career.

He had been worried about it at first. After all, it was the first idea he had put such thought into. He had spent weeks studying models and their work as if it was a new technique. He learned of their contracts, wages, lifestyles, etc...

The plan was simple: he needed a manager who would not sabotage his/her career, and actually protect them from the dark side of the business while making certain they were the best and paid accordingly; as well as ensuring that said funds did not fall into panda hands.

He wanted Nabiki as a manager.

The problem was he had to make certain that her greed didn't cost him every yen he made. He figured that his old man most likely left **his** name for many of the bills he undoubtedly skipped out on. If Ranma was going to have a future, he needed to have something to fall back on. While the Art was his life, he knew that it wasn't very likely to find others like him who would see it as such, as well.

Besides, he needed a way to support a family if he ever had one. Sure, he could teach the Art.

Of course, look at the examples he had to follow. His Father, Mr. Tendo, Cologne, Happosai...

It'd be a miracle if he could teach a class, let alone in any way to keep them coming back for lessons.

So what did that leave him with?

Nothing.

If he couldn't teach, he'd starve, or worse; his family might starve.

So, he needed something else; something that could support him and a possible family, and not take time from the Art.

That was when he remembered the Middle Tendo's penchant for taking photos of either of his forms to sell.

If those perverts bought them, maybe he could do it for a living.

Not the nude part; Ranma didn't want more perverts looking at his girl form than there already was. But maybe a legitimate modeling job could work. The Art kept him/her fit, so the "calorie watching" of some models wouldn't factor into their work. While the work could sometimes be grueling; the travel would be nice, as well as leaving plenty of time for the Art to be practiced.

After all, it wasn't like Ranma would be extremely social as most models were.

Of course, that little plan was all dependant on getting Nabiki to agree to be the manager of the soon-to-be-famous Saotome twins.

Ranma admitted he might not be book smart, but he knew enough that doing it by himself would be extremely stupid and prove fatal in this sort of battle.

He was slightly surprised when Nabiki not only agreed to hear the idea—for a nominal fee, mind you—but she agreed with how he planned to divide the money: third for the housing expenses of him at the dojo, third for her, and a third for him to be put into an account he and only he could access.

She even agreed to help him find any outstanding debts put with his name, so that he might pay some of them off.

Of course, he had no idea that six months later, they'd develop feelings for each other.

Let alone the six months after that, he would propose.

This led to today.

After spending most of the week discussing it, Nabiki had convinced him of what needed to be done. Both of their fathers, as well as Happosai, had pretty much destroyed the family honor of the Saotome and Tendo clans. Kasumi was safe because she was currently dating Tofu, who had come back three months into Ranma's modeling career with some technique to keep him sane around Kasumi.

Akane? Those six months before he began to develop feelings for Nabiki had been some of the hardest on them. Her refusal to trust him had been the final nail into their relationship...if it could have ever been called that. She expected his trust that nothing was going on when she kissed someone during her plays, but refused to show the same trust when he disappeared for a few hours for his shoots.

And that didn't even include how she reacted if those shoots took a weekend.

A silent knock brought him back to reality, as Nabiki poked her head in, the knock following a pattern he picked so he knew not to hide.

"Is it done?" he asked, as she entered the room and shut the door quietly.

She nodded, crossing over to him, as they embraced. "Yeah. I filed the papers. As of now, we are Ranma and Nabiki Kino." She looked into his eyes. "Now, I know you use Kino as your career name, but can you tell me why you took it to begin with?"

That had been bugging her for a year. But Ranma had steadfastly refused to explain why he chose that name.

He nodded. "The old woman who first helped me out of the Nekoken...that was her last name. If...when...we have a daughter, I wanna name her after that woman."

Nabiki smiled at that. For a while, she had honestly thought Ranma just picked a name out of the phone book.

But to choose the name of the woman who had probably helped him retain his sanity. It was sort of poetic in a way; choosing the name of someone who had shown him perhaps the most compassion on his training trip. "What was her name?"

"It took me a few months to find that out myself. Her name was Makoto."

Nabiki smiled. "Makoto Kino. I think that would be a perfect name for our first daughter."

Ranma smiled. His life...it wasn't perfect yet.

But, it was fast approaching it.

* * *

Ranma sighed as he sat up on the futon, smiling at that memory. _Things had been perfect then. I was just too impetuous to know._

_Come to think of it; I still don't know how she got the Amazons to leave me alone._

Shaking away those thoughts before he could become depressed once again by the loss of Nabiki, he sat up, putting away his bedding, and heading towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Showering could wait till afterwards, as well as dressing for "Ranko's" photo shoot.

That had been another surprise. When he was just starting in the modeling world, Ichiko had helped, herself a veteran of a decade of work, even helping Ranma work his/her natural beauty to further reduce the need of makeup and increase the power of his/her appearance.

The fact that the woman was still in the business after all this time was amazing; now as one of the upper managers instead of a model/agent. But Ranma was glad the woman was still around; advancing in the business ranks, helping models survive in that world, to not rely on it forever like a crutch.

It was probably how Ranma was able to get back in so quickly, as well as get the contacts to work quickly enough to reactivate his old accounts.

Shaking his head, Ranma sat about preparing the meal for breakfast. He still had a few clothes given to him by Kasumi from the storage shed where his stuff was being kept, but he might need to borrow some from his daughter.

Ranma smirked at that; wondering how his daughter was going to react to her father asking for a nice skirt and blouse.

"Man, we've all changed. I just hope all of my changes were for the better."

* * *

Makoto was blushing with slight embarrassment as she was walking to school with her father beside her...wearing a hot number Makoto had been saving for that "special date" she never got around to.

The sad thing was...her dad was getting more looks from guys than she ever had.

"Everything okay, Mako-chan?" she asked.

Makoto shook her head. "No, da...I mean, Auntie." She caught herself, remembering it would be better for her if she addressed her dad's female form as her Aunt. "I'm just a little jealous of all the attention you're getting."

Ranko giggled. "Dear, they're only thinking below their belts. But if it bothers you, I can always give you a few of my secrets. After all, I doubt Kasumi was the best one to teach you **how** to hunt men."

Makoto nodded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Even Uncle Tofu had said that Aunt Kasumi was a natural for getting guys to fall in love with her; she just didn't know **how** she did it or **that** she did it.

Of course, she also was slightly embarrassed at the fact that her father looked much better in that outfit than she ever did.

"So," her 'Auntie' asked, "what classes do you have besides the core ones?"

Makoto shook her head, trying to focus on the conversations rather than the idiot who had just walked into a lamppost after seeing them. "Well, nothing much. I thought about taking a drama class with Minako and Usagi, but that doesn't seem like me. So far, all I have for this semester is a foreign language class, as well as a martial arts class."

Ranko nodded. "English?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

Ranko smiled. "It's always a good language to learn. Your mother thought it would become the standard language of business in the West, but it also offers more colleges for you to go to, should you choose college."

"I know," she said. She wasn't so much upset that she didn't have any cooking classes left, or the fact that she was now in a martial arts class that her own father/aunt was leagues ahead of the teacher in.

And she certainly was not going to ask her father/aunt to sign up as a teacher. She was going to have enough trouble keeping the Inners/Outers/anything vaguely human from pursuing her father/auntie as a love interest.

The possible idea that Usagi—no matter how much a friend—could end up as her step-mom...

She suppressed the shivers as best as she could. No, that possibility must not come to pass.

Nor must it be allowed for Ami, Minako, Rei, Hotaru, Haruka, Michiru, Setsuna, Mamoru...

None of them must be allowed to marry her father.

She knew these people. No, they could neither be trusted nor allowed to get near her father like that. She sure as hell didn't want these people as...family.

What really upset her was the simple fact...that she didn't know what was coming next.

Her father was back, and she knew damn well that she was taking this better than expected. But all of her encounters as Sailor Jupiter had allowed her to suspend such trivial things as belief and disbelief to such occurrences.

As such, she could easily become the little girl glad beyond measure to have her father back in her life...to have one parent with which she knew she'd never be alone again.

Of course, there were times where she missed being alone.

"Have a great day at school, Mako-chan!" yelled Ranko as Makoto began to try and enter the school grounds.

Several guys stared between the tallest girl in school and the hot redhead who had called out to her.

And then; proving that Murphy never stopped when he was on a roll, a sports car pulled up, being driven by the two Outers; Michiru and Haruka, as they were dropping Hotaru off to school.

So, we now had two confirmed lesbians and most of the male population staring at Makoto's female-formed father.

Needless to say, a nice little twitch was developing.

"Oh," said Ranko, noticing the two girls, "hello Michiru-chan, Haruka-chan. Can you give me a lift? My photo shoot is near the college campus."

And thus, Makoto was soon dragged kicking and screaming into the school by Minako, Ami, and Hotaru.

Sometimes, you have to protect your family from perverts.

* * *

Akane Nakamura sat in the Teachers' Lounge, checking over her lesson plans. Since it was her first day, she wanted to make a perfect first impression.

What she had seen already of the school filled her with hope. Any damage wasn't very recent, but was made by occasional monsters, and not super-powered martial artists, or poetry spouting kendo principals.

The staff was competent.

The leadership was sane and actually cared about the student body.

She might actually be able to teach and have friends without some moron interfering.

That was...until she looked out onto the grounds, and caught sight of a certain girl screaming at a departing car.

_Her! Why the hell is she here?_

Quickly, Akane went to her class rosters, checking to see if that girl was on any of them.

Thankfully in her opinion, Makoto Kino was not taking any of her classes. _Good, the less time I have to be around that piece of trash the better._

Taking a few calming breaths, Akane tried to re-center herself. She couldn't risk losing this job, since it was her ticket out of Nerima and away from Kuno. Her child was already signed up for classes at a local grade school, and the lease on their apartment was already signed.

So, if she could just avoid the brown haired bitch, then everything would be fine.

Besides, unless she was a moron like her Father, then the girl would graduate this year, and Akane would never have to worry about her again.

Taking a deep breath, Akane stood up and headed to her classroom, after checking to see she wouldn't pass Makoto in the hallway.

She was determined to stay as far away from that girl as possible. _Well, at least Kasumi got rid of the trash a few years ago._

* * *

"Louis," said Ranko, "if you don't stop trying to get into my pants and start taking photos, I'm going to have to shove that camera up your ass."

The French photographer gulped, seeing the looks of pain those blue eyes were promising, and resumed taking the photos, inwardly sighing at the fact that he would not be able to add this model to his list of bedded beauties...yet.

Ichiko smiled as the beautiful redhead modeled their newest swimsuit, lying on a beach set. Most of it would be replaced by CGI for the magazines and such, but the beauty herself was the real draw. "My, my, Ranko; you sure have kept your shape well."

Ranko smiled towards her friend, one of the relatively few in the business who truly knew the relationship between Ranma and Ranko Kino. "You know me; I never sit still long enough to get fat."

Ichiko laughed. "So true. So how was the forced vacation?"

Ranko sighed as Louis changed the roll of film. "I missed so much of Mako-chan's life. I tried to get back sooner, but..."

"I know, dear. We're all glad that you and your brother were finally able to make it back." Ichiko handed Ranko a bottle of chilled water. The set might be fake, but the lights made things hot. "I did find a few places that might fit the bill for what you were looking for. A few are only a few blocks away from where you're staying now?"

Ranko smiled as she once again resumed her poses for the camera. "How do they look?"

Ichiko opened a small folder, filled with the printouts from the properties. "A few would need to really be repaired. They haven't been lived in since the Senshi started showing up, and they weren't repaired if the battles got near them. But the asking prices are well below market value."

Ranko nodded, changing her position again at the photographer's prompting. "Not bad. I've got plenty of money to get them fixed. Are the local contractors any good?"

Ichiko smiled. "A few of them are based in Nerima, and most of the foremen worked there when you were younger."

Ranko smiled. "We'll have to go over them after the shoot."

Ichiko nodded, before bringing up a darker topic. "You do realize that certain people are going to know that you're back soon. The press is having a field day with that story. 'Lost models return from lost island.' I even found a few tabloids saying that you and your brother had a few kids."

Ranko turned slightly green, shaking such images out of her head. "Trust me; those were the last thoughts on either of our heads."

"Okay," said Louis, "take five while we set up for the next shoot."

Nodding, Ranko stood up, taking a robe being offered by Ichiko, and moving towards a small snack table with her friend.

"So," the woman whispered, "does Mako-chan have any siblings?"

Ranko sighed. "Not ready to talk about that. Let's just say I had plenty of opportunities over there."

Ichiko nodded. _I guess he's still not over Nabiki yet._ "Okay, but make no mistake, you **are** telling me about that place sooner rather than later."

Ranko nodded. "Let me get a new home and settled first."

Ichiko nodded. "Okay." Then, she resumed their friendly banter. "So, it appears that poor Louis won't be having his way with another model of mine."

Ranko smirked. "He never had a chance."

The two women giggled at that. "So, any chance of little Mako-chan joining you in this?"

Ranko set down her water. "I don't know if she wants to."

"She has the figure."

Ranko nodded, but was thinking of other things. She knew her daughter wanted to go to college. She also had something that involved a lot of magic in it, further limiting her daughter's free time.

Of course, Ranma could easily free that one up. You didn't spend sixty years on a demon plane of existence without learning how to best kill them.

Then of course, came Makoto's training in Revised Anything Goes. She knew the girl wanted to learn the family art. "I'll tell you what, Ichiko-chan; I'll ask her. But I fear she may already have a rather full plate. Besides, if she goes to college, I'd rather her have some fun in it."

Ichiko could only nod in agreement. "Yes, I know how tough it was on her parents to both attend college and manage your brother's career." She turned to her friend. "I do have a few part-time positions available, if she just wants to dabble for the moment, unless you think you school's training might make that an impossibility."

Ranko nodded. "She's like her father, wants to learn the Art. But...I'll ask her. It's her choice in the end."

The girls nodded as they began to talk more about missed events, and how Ichiko and her family had progressed over those fourteen years.

* * *

Setsuna sat in her office, drinking her tea. So far, none of the students had needed to visit the Guidance Counselor yet, which suited the Senshi of Pluto just fine. It gave her the free time to think of her newest problem: Ranma Kino.

The Gates had no way to see into the present, past, or future of Hyurn, so she had no idea not only if this person **was** the real Ranma, but also what this person had done.

According to Little Lady, the man was in total control of that realm; a feat of great measure for any demon realm.

But, she did know of one level of his power.

No Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom had ever blown up a star. Even if they had been so inclined, the technology of the time was the only means. Even a Senshi at her best couldn't use the mana tap of their seed to destroy their source.

So, this character could considerably have enough power to dispose of the Senshi should he see fit. His only ties to Usagi was through his daughter, and he had said so himself that they would be enemies if they were planning to take over "through either action or inaction".

"I need to spend some time with either Little Lady or my future self."

She was smart enough to tread lightly on this issue. She had no doubts that Makoto would follow through with her threats. The girl had finally regained some family, something each of the Senshi—sans Setsuna herself—had. And Makoto was not about to allow it to be threatened at all.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Setsuna shook her head. "There are too many unknowns here.

"I...**hate**...unknowns."

_Okay, so I have somewhat of a plan. I need to approach Makoto to talk about revealing the Senshi to her father, talk to Little Lady to see what changes might have been made in the timeline with his return. _

_I find it a little hard to believe that no one mentioned him when they went to the future._

_But then again, the other Outers hadn't been mentioned either._

_Then, see if he will help support Usagi's ascension to Neo-Queen Serenity._

_Better also check and see what if any of his troops might pop up. Wouldn't be a good idea if the Senshi vaporize his peace envoy to Earth._

Setsuna shook her head. On that point, she really needed to see him soon, assuming her absence wouldn't send Makoto on another "hunt" for those who might desire her Father.

"That girl is getting way over-protective with him."

So, she would chat with him, feeling him out for his thoughts on her plans for Crystal Tokyo. She would learn where they stood in terms of power, if she could find a spot for a nice...sparring...match. She needed to learn if a frontal confrontation was a smart move against him.

But considering what she had seen of him through the Gates of Time when she had discovered who he was, she didn't like her chances.

Sighing, she resigned herself to lots of time to be spent on such plans. Makoto could not be allowed to wander from her predestined path.

Looking towards the daily bulletin showing that a new teacher was starting today, she silently began to curse.

At least, she had one bit of news she could tell him to earn some trust.

She just hoped he wasn't the type to shoot the messenger.

* * *

Omake by migele:

"Eyes on the road," Ranko reminded Haruka.

This caused Michiru to elbow her lover again, she had to admit that the petite redhead looked hot; she even accepted the correction Haruka had made on the rearview mirror.

But turning around and staring was too much.

"So you are back for good and someone relly high in the dimension you were in?" Haruka asked, trying to divert her fate from ending up on the couch, again.

"Top of the food chain actually," Ranko grinned. "But I still like it much more here."

"How was it there?" Michiru asked.

"Long story.

"What's with Hotaru? All that power can't be too good for her development."

"Long story," Michiru smiled.

"Where can I find your photos?" Haruka asked.

"Eyes on the road, I'm not sure," Ranko answered.

"Haruka!"

"Don't tell me you wouldn't enjoy a swimsuit poster in the bedroom."

"That's not the point."

Behind them; Ranko sweat-dropped. "I'm still here, you know."

The Outers had the decency to blush.


	5. Making Home

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 5**

**Making Home**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

There were times that Nabiki truly loved her husband.

The day they got married...

The day he proposed...

The day he carried her into a home he built with his own two hands...

"Easy, dear," said Ranma, helping ease Nabiki onto a cushion.

Then there were times she wanted to rip off his legs and beat him with them. And no, those were not pregnancy hormones talking.

"Damn it, Ranma," she growled, "I'm not a piece of china, I won't break."

He sighed, sitting beside her, rubbing her back. "I know, but ... I ain't sure how to act, Nabiki," he said, rubbing her back a little higher as he felt the tension begin to melt away.

"If you're acting like this when I'm only five months pregnant," she said, "how are you going to act when the baby comes?"

He nervously chuckled. "The same way I handle everything else; eyes closed and jumping in head first."

She giggled at that. He was still the same person she had fallen in love with so many years ago, the same person she married, the same person who occasionally got jealous if he found her speaking to some male that flirted with her. "Seriously, Ranma, calm down; otherwise our child will be born neurotic."

The man paled. "OH MY GOD!"

She wanted to slap her own head against the table, forgetting how badly Ranma was taking the responsibility for a new life; his mind driven to be the best father ever. "Saotome, SIT!"

By instinct, he sat, still sweating. "By Kami-sama, my daughter will be neurotic!"

"Daughter?"

He paled more at that. "Shit," he muttered; his anxiety over being nervous around the child overridden by the fear of Nabiki, as she had not wanted to know the gender of the baby.

Nabiki was no longer paying attention to him, her hands having pulled up her loose shirt, to rub her belly. "I'm ... having a baby girl." Her eyes had misted up, a smile on her face, as she continued to rub her belly.

Ranma came up beside her, before placing his hand on both of hers. "Yeah, a very healthy little girl. Little Makoto is doing great."

Nabiki nodded, remembering their earlier conversations about the names for the child; mostly centering on what they would name it if it was a boy. "My little Mako-chan," she said, laughing a bit through her tears.

Ranma nodded, changing hands so he could hug Nabiki to himself. "She'll be a perfect little girl; your brains, my skills, and none of our baggage."

Nabiki broke down in laughter, leaning her head against his chest. "What if she doesn't want to be the best martial artist of her generation?"

Ranma snorted. "She's my girl; she'll need to know it to beat back all those perverts that will be sniffing around her."

As she began to laugh again, her tears of happiness drying, he maneuvered around her, allowing her to lie against him, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"And what happens if I don't lose the weight?" she asked, still fearful she'd never lose the pregnancy weight gain.

Ranma snorted. "You'd never allow it; my wife loves to be desired by all, and walks in such a way, that everyone else knows they may look, but never touch."

He nibbled on her ear. "Besides, I married you for you, not the body."

"Really," she purred, "well, after I deliver, I can get some Instant Nanniichuan and..."

"Don't press your luck, Porky."

"Hey!" she cried, as they quickly degenerated to a tickling match, which soon followed by the same activities that made Nabiki pregnant in the first place.

* * *

Ranma shook his head, clearing his thoughts on the past, before he looked over the yard.

He had bought one place last week, finding it perfect for his desires, before fixing it up. With six rooms, it was slightly larger than the Tendo Dojo, and roughly the same size as his first home with Nabiki. He had already retrieved all of his stuff from the storage lockers Kasumi had placed them in after his disappearance, moving them into the new house. With the stuff he had just moved today from Makoto's apartment, they had three rooms filled, with three guest rooms.

That was one room for Makoto, and two rooms for him, as he needed to keep up the idea of "Ranko" for the busy-bodies that insisted on knowing more about her.

Plus, it helped keep people from believing the perverted rumors of what "they" had done on that forced vacation.

He had been busy painting, repairing, rewiring, and replanting on the property. He even had time to install a koi pond.

He had totally redone the dojo; reinforcing the roof, walls, and floor, as well as adding separate changing areas should he feel the want to start teaching again.

He even stocked it full of pillows, since he assumed that like the magic girls he had read from Nabiki's mangas, that they would want a meeting place, and he'd rather have his daughter as close as possible, since he doubted the bad guys would leave her alone.

Thinking of that, he added something to his shopping list. "Ice cream freezer and maker. Hmm, better make that two.

"Mmm, ice cream."

Shaking his head, he looked at the clock. "Damn, time to go get Mako-chan and bring her to her new home." He smiled at that, glad to be able to provide that to his daughter.

He knew she loved the fact that he had returned, even if her mother was not able to be brought back.

"I wish I could give her that," he whispered. He truly wished Makoto to know her mother. Ranma knew how much it hurt the Tendo sisters to lose their mother, and he had hoped to allow his children to know both their parents. He wanted his daughter to know both parents, something he knew both he and Nabiki wanted for their children.

Sadly, fate and a dead pervert named Happosai had other plans, and he could only hope his daughter would have better luck with her own children.

Shaking his head, he turned to see a photo of one of their few family outings.

It was of them in Hawaii. Ranma in his female form with Nabiki were standing in the surf, Makoto jumping into the air, her arms extended in happiness. It had been the last shoot out of Japan he had done, and the last time they had been together like that.

Smiling, he turned towards the door. He still had to pick up Makoto and her friends and show them their new home.

There was always time later to reminisce. And he would love to tell that story to his daughter, to see if she remembered it.

He still had her left, and memories, especially the happy ones, should always be shared.

* * *

As he left, Nabiki faded into view, as she turned towards the photo Ranma had been admiring. She easily remembered the trip. It was then that she decided to query Ranma to see if perhaps he was ready for a second child. Her business had been established, they had more than enough money, and she was certain she could trust her employees.

But the Kami had decided otherwise.

She knew it was too much to hope that they could restore her to life. Since she fell in love with Ranma, she came to accept and desire certain things, and she knew there were more deserving individuals who would deserve life again. She was relatively certain that while her life had not been the most ... selfless ... before her marriage, she wasn't about to try and excuse it.

Besides, she could always hope for reincarnation.

Shaking her head to dismiss what thoughts of what might have been, she looked around. "It really is a good home, anata. Make certain you never let her feel unwelcome."

With that and a smile as she turned towards the wedding photo that was also on the wall, she faded back out, offering whatever prayers might be heard, that everything would be for the best.

* * *

The Inner Senshi and Hotaru were looking confused.

"She really looked at you like that?" asked Minako.

"Yeah," said Makoto. "What did I ever do to that theater teacher?"

Ami nodded, looking at the Mercury Computer. "Well, she's fully human, I can say that much."

"It'd be easier if we could just dust her," said Makoto.

"I take it you had a bad day in classes?"

She turned around to see her Father. "Daddy; did you ever have a teacher that just seemed to hate you for no reason?"

Ranma nodded. "It'd be easier to count those that didn't hate me, want me dead, or see me as a battery to keep them in adult form," stated Ranma, much to the surprise of the other Senshi.

"O...kay," said Makoto. _Must be a weird family thing. _"So, where's this new home you wanted to show me?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Smiling, Ranma bowed. "This way, my Princess; let this undeserving peasant escort thee to thy humble abode."

The other girls giggled at the display, while Makoto looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "Daaaaadddy!" she whined.

Chuckling, Ranma stood back up, taking his daughter's arm, before leading her and her friends to the new Kino Dojo.

This of course, was not missed by many of her friends who had heard the conversation.

"My God," said one, "Makoto's Dad is "the Ranma"."

"Whoa," said another, "she is **so** lucky!"

By the next day of classes, the truth about who was Makoto's dad would be all over school.

* * *

"This is so cooool!" squeaked Usagi as she ran around the house.

"Excellent dojo," awed Haruka.

"The landscaping is beautiful," nodded Michiru, smiling as one of the koi jumped out of the pond to snag a fresh bug.

Makoto nodded, having just returned from her new room. "Dad, this is just so ... I mean ... this is all ... wow!"

Hotaru and Usa agreed; the latter having been brought over with the other Outers, as the two proceeded to eat the freshly made ice cream Ranma had produced.

Minako and Rei were just standing before the big screen plasma TV that Ranma had purchased, looking on as the attached entertainment system came online, drooling.

"What about security?" asked Ami, wondering if she could talk her mother into purchasing the same internet access system Ranma had installed.

Smiling, Ranma whistled a bit, as three very large and very odd looking dogs came from under the house, panting.

It wasn't the size of the dogs that made everyone stare; more the fact that the dogs had spines sticking out of their limbs and spine.

"Um ... dad," said Makoto, eyes wide as her father started petting the largest one, "what are those?"

Smiling, Ranma turned to her, as the other dogs surrounded him, before sitting and panting. "They're hellhounds. I breed the little guys."

Usagi gulped, easily imagining one of those dogs swallowing Luna like a gumball. "Why are they here?"

"Security," said Ranma, as one of the dogs rolled over, allowing Ranma to rub its stomach.

"From what," stared Rei, "the military?"

"Nah," said Ranma. "Just the usual suspects; prowlers, paparazzi, demons, Amazons, Phoenix tribe, Musk warriors, youma, perverts, rogue agents out for the head of myself or my daughter, neighborhood kids, religious zealots, assassins, gods, goddesses, demons, demonesses, psycho fans, love interests who can't take no for an answer, undead creatures, family members that won't leave us alone, demon hunters who see you do one thing and immediately want you dead, fiancées, fiancés, debt collectors—"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" yelled out Rei.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, these little guys wouldn't hurt a fly, unless I told them to."

This might have built some faith, had one not snatched a low-flying pigeon out of the air with a frog-like tongue, and quickly swallowed it.

Of course, one had broken away, sniffing at Minako's bag, licking its lips.

"Help me!" cried out a voice from the bag.

"No eating Artemis!" yelled Minako, grabbing the bag and cradling it.

"Who or what is Artemis?" asked Ranma, as he called the dog back to him.

"Me," came the weak reply, as Artemis stuck his head out of the bag.

Ranma blinked, glad his troubles in Hyurn helped him get over his fear of cats. "Mau?"

"You know of them?" asked Setsuna.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, the Mau were created in some dimension about 59,000 years ago by a ten year old girl named Princess Serenity IV. She apparently wanted her dozens of pet cats to talk with her, so she stole some weird crystal called the Ginzuishou from her mother and created them."

Everyone turned to Usagi. "Um," started Ami, "which was..." she left off, wondering exactly which 'Serenity' that Usagi was.

"The forty-second," said Setsuna, grumbling about how the scouts all knew how the Mau came to be.

"What's his name?" asked Hotaru, as one with green spines was currently licking her face, causing the little girl to giggle wildly.

Ranma nodded. "That's Shinji XIII, he seems to like you," commented Ranma. "Would you like him? I can always get another one, and he seems so attached to you?"

"Can I?" the Senshi of Saturn pleaded towards her parental figures, giving them the full dreaded puppy-dog eyes, which was also mimicked by the hellhound.

Haruka gulped. "Um, we'll discuss it, I don't know if we can have pets."

"But don't you guys own the house?" asked Usagi.

"Yes," said Michiru.

"YEAH!" cried Hotaru. After all, if they owned the house, surely they'd let her have a pet. "He can sleep in my bed!"

Ranma nodded. "Well, I better get one of the owner's manuals I wrote for them. That is if Shinji wants to go with you?"

The demon dog barked loudly, before he resumed licking Hotaru's face.

"He's not going to eat her, is he dad?" asked Makoto.

"Nah," Ranma said, waving dismissively. _At least I don't think so._ "If you guys want, I can get you each one? They'll help you on whatever magic girl business you have, and I can equip them with a spell so everyone else will see them as normal pets."

Several of the girls began to consider that, including... "MINAKO!"

"Sorry, Arty," said Minako. "They won't eat a Mau, will they?"

Ranma looked back and forth between the dogs and Artemis. "I don't believe so.

"Well, as long as you keep them pretty well fed."

Artemis gulped, remembering how often he had to yell at Minako when it was her turn to feed him. _I'm a dead man._

* * *

"So," said Ranma, as the girls were starting to warm up to the demon hounds, "how can I help you." Setsuna had followed him, and cornered him in his room, as he went to get the manual for Hotaru.

Sad thing was, she had already placed a purple ribbon on Shinji's tail.

"Listen," said Setsuna, "I'm still not one hundred percent positive things are going for the better, but Makoto asked me to help you out, so I will."

"Gee, thanks," he spoke with sarcasm.

"Here," she said, handing him a folder, "is someone who will interfere with Mako-chan's life."

Ranma opened up the folder, growling and glowing slightly red as an aura of anger began to emerge from him. "Akane."

Setsuna nodded. "She's a new teacher at Juuban High. Her address and information is in ... that ... folder," she finished, noticing Ranma had vanished.

"That ... can't be good."

* * *

In the front room, as the Senshi were petting the demon hounds, the Mercury Computer began to beep.

Ami opened, it looking on the data. "Trouble!"

As they all left, Artemis looked nervously at the dogs. "Um ... perhaps you should go help them?"

The three dogs licked their chops once again, as they lunged for Artemis, only to have their meal picked up at the last minute, the Garnet Rod striking them all on their noses.

"Bad doggies," said Pluto with some humor. "No eating Mako-chan's friends."

She shook her head as all three sat down. "I can't leave you alone for a moment, can I?"

Artemis was still panting heavily at his near death experience. "And she wants to get one of them," he cried.

Shaking her head, Pluto teleported to the battle, hoping the Senshi would be too busy with it and forget about getting new pets from Ranma, and that Ranma didn't do anything that required the Senshi to try and stop him.

* * *

Ranma sat atop one of the buildings in Juuban, meditating ... well, trying to.

"Kami-sama damn it," he muttered. From Kasumi's stories, he knew well enough how against Makoto that Akane had been in the past. It was only by sheer luck and amount of support from her aunt and uncle that Makoto didn't have a slew of issues. It had gotten so bad, that Makoto didn't even know about her own grandparents, or her Aunt Akane.

"Kasumi was right," muttered Ranma, "perhaps it would have been better if she had died at Jusendo.

"Then she wouldn't be thought of as this bitch."

He let out a drawn out sigh. "Then again, the families would still be upset with me and Nabiki; or someone else would blame me for not saving Akane."

Shaking his head, he stood up. "Can't live off wishes. I got to fix this before the tomboy decides to try and make Mako-chan's life worse."

Nodding, he turned towards the direction he felt her aura coming from. "Have to hold off though; looks like the tomboy has company. The damn panda if I remember correctly."

Shaking his head that he was going to have to put off dealing with Akane for one more day, he began to head home, only to stop, as he felt a disturbance.

"Well," he snarled, getting a pole ax out of his weapon space, "looks like I'll get to work off some of this anger, after all."

* * *

"And this is the last of it," said Akane, bringing in the last box from the movers.

"What a workout," grumbled Soun, as he looked across the mobile shogi board to Genma. "I'm glad we decided to help my lovely daughter."

"But Grandpa," said Kai, "you guys only brought the board and the bottles of the smelly stuff in. Mommy brought in everything else."

"Really," stated Nodoka, returning from starting a meal in the kitchen. While Akane had finally gotten better, she still wanted to make the moving in celebration feast. "Well then, the men can go and set up all the furniture and rooms, before they get one bit of food."

"But No-chan..."

Kai splashed him with a cup of water. "Grandma said whining isn't manly, and is for pandas only."

Akane giggled at that, as the panda stood up, moving slowly to the bedroom to start assembling the furniture.

"You too, dad."

"But dear," whined Soun, "my back is acting up."

"Soun," said Nodoka, "I went with you for that physical at Tofu's. He said you were in perfect health."

"Well, it acts up on occasion," he chuckled, a little embarrassed, forgetting that since she moved in, Nodoka **knew** when he was lying.

After the men had left, and Kai went to keep them in line, Nodoka sat beside Akane at the table, having some light snacks before the meal would be ready. "Dear, I know you wanted to get away from that dreaded Kuno boy, but this is a dangerous ward."

"I know, Auntie," said Akane. "But I can take care of myself."

"From energy draining monsters that can't be harmed by physical attacks?"

"Well," said Akane, nervously shifting a bit. Ever since Nodoka had forced both fathers to begin training her seriously after Ranma and Nabiki left the clans, she was forced to admit she had flaws.

Not to say she didn't improve. But between classes and her social calendar, she had never been able to put in the full dedication they wanted. She could roof-hop, and she was definitely better than when she had first met the Saotomes, but she was also forced to accept defeat on occasion.

Which meant she knew how well her usual attacks would do against a youma or whatnot, and Genma Saotome had steadfastly refused to teach her Yamasenken or Umisenken.

"If Uncle would teach me those techniques, I wouldn't have to worry."

"Dear, we've been over this."

"I know, I just don't like being left out of a fight."

Nodoka nodded. "I also noticed you were a little bit snippy with them when you got home from work today. Anything happen?"

Akane snorted. "I just ran into some piece of trash student."

"And how did they offend you?" asked Nodoka.

"She's just like her parents."

Nodoka nodded. She knew Akane did tend to hold several grudges, so she merely assumed the parents in question were probably friends of Akane's ex-husband.

"Mommy!" cried Kai, running into the room with a radio in his hand; the cable was not on yet; due to be turned on till tomorrow.

"What is it, dear?"

"The Senshi have been sighted!"

The eyes of the women in the room widened as Kai set the radio down, retuning it to the station in question.

"**_That's right, folks. The Senshi are currently battling some major bad guys outside the station as we speak. Hopefully, we can get an interview with them after they..._**

"_**Wait one moment. A figure has just arrived, and is cutting through the monsters like they're nothing. I can't be certain from here, but it looks like that male model, Ranma! He even has the famous black pigtail!"**_

Akane began to glow red, as her tea cup shattered in her hand.

Nodoka paled slightly, unsure if she should be happy that apparently her missing son had returned, or to support the girl who had been a daughter to her since Ranma had left her.

* * *

As Pluto watched Ranma carve a path of death through the youma, she felt a very cold shiver run down her back.

"I don't know what that was yet, but I just know I'm going to get blamed for it."


	6. Journey of Discovery Part 1

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 6**

**Journey of Discovery Part 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Nabiki sighed as she slipped out of the bed once again, pausing to note how Ranma continued to sleep.

She wanted to smile at that, even crawl back under the covers and back into his arms. It wasn't that far of a stretch.

At least ... it wasn't considering what they had been doing.

She wondered how long it would be before he wanted to 'start holding off' again until they got married. Hell, they still argued over who changed their relationship from partners to intimate lovers.

And if he knew what she was doing now, that fight would pale in comparison to this.

But it had to be this way, it had to be done ... if for no other reason to have some room, salvage the honor of their friend, and bring some peace of mind.

If he knew, he wouldn't like it, even if it was the only choice.

This was why she wanted to make sure that he didn't.

As she left the room with what she needed, she didn't catch the look of worry that grew on his face, before the moon was once again hidden by the clouds.

* * *

Shampoo sighed as she looked out the window of the airport terminal. _I've been gone for too long._

_I should have come sooner, even if Kasumi said she didn't need me._

"This place is too noisy," muttered a redheaded boy beside her.

"Be quiet, Xenma," said Shampoo. "We came here to see your father."

"Are we certain this guy actually exists, Mom?" said a purple haired girl with a pigtail.

Shampoo sighed. _I just had to end up with twins, didn't I? It must be what my Beloved referred to as 'just desserts' or something like that. _"Listen Xenko, I have already explained this to you."

"We know," growled out Xenma. "Dad didn't even know we existed, and before you could show us to him because of some deal you had with another woman he loved, some old pervert summoned a demon and killed them all."

"Except for our half-sister," added Xenko.

"That is correct," said Shampoo, waiting for the customs agent to finish with their luggage—not that they would find anything thanks to Hidden Weapons techniques. "Despite our offers, she was sent to stay with her Aunt on her mother's side. After what had happened, I agreed with the Matriarch that it would be best for her."

"We could have met her," said Xenko.

"And done what?" asked Shampoo. "We couldn't exactly tell her why even her Daddy didn't know she had siblings."

Xenma sighed. "Drop it, Sister. We are here now, and she is surely old enough to hear the truth."

"As is he."

The two children turned towards their mother. "What do you mean?" asked Xenma.

Shampoo smiled as she pointed to a television that was reviewing footage from a recent Senshi battle. "What can I say," she started as her children stared at the image, "I never doubted for a moment that he would not come back."

As her children caught the first look at their father—granted he was wearing weird armor and slashing at some creatures—Shampoo had to wonder one thing.

Would the ghosts of the past haunt them today?

* * *

Few things could ever frighten a Senshi. They had all faced death—many having been brought back a few times—faced enemies of unimaginable power—often making it out by the skin of their teeth—and seen things inside themselves that they never wanted to admit—unless you got them really drunk.

But they all had to cower in fear at the sight of one pissed off parent in battle armor with a very sharp pole-ax that was still somewhat covered in the blood of the youma it had slaughtered less than an hour ago.

Ranma tried to control his temper, not wanting to yell. After all, he could understand the need to fight the darker forces of existence. He himself had done it a few times before he was stranded in Hyurn.

But to fight them in short skirts! "Mako-chan," said Ranma.

"Um ... yes, Daddy?" gulped the tall Senshi.

"As soon as I can contact my Guard on Hyurn, we are making you some decent ... covering armor."

The girls blinked at that. "Um ... Dad, you're not mad we're fighting evil for Love and Justice?"

"No," said Ranma, flexing his armored left hand, his right holding the pole-ax tightly to keep from falling into a father-rage and killing whoever put his little girl in such a stupid outfit. "I'm pi...upset that you are wearing such a revealing outfit."

Several of the girls face-faulted at that.

Haruka snorted. "I've been saying that for years."

Rei glared at her. "Like we're going to believe that you hate it."

"I hate how it looks on me," clarified Haruka.

Left unsaid was that she rather liked the way it looked on the other girls.

"But the Senshi outfit was designed to be perfect by the best mages in the Moon Court," added Luna.

Ranma glared at the lunar advisor, his eyes taking a more feral and cat-like glare. "You'll find Hyurn armor a bit more durable and powerful than whatever those long dead fools came up with. I for one will not have my daughter risking her life while flashing every pervert nearby."

"But the disguise field prevents ... um," puttered out Usagi as Ranma directed his glare at her. _Eep! Mako-chan's dad is scary!_

Ranma sighed, reigning in his control, as he dismissed his armor and weapon, returning to his earlier outfit. "Well, at least now I know why your body is saturated with magic."

"Uh ... yeah," said Makoto, standing up. "Daddy, I am the beautiful sailor suited warrior of Love and Justice, Sailor Jupiter." She finished it by transforming before him, trying desperately to make the light show as short as possible—and hopefully not get chewed out some more.

Ranma studied her body with a detailed eye. "Strange way to use a planetary mana tap..." he muttered, much to the surprise of the others.

"You can see the flows of magic?" asked Ami.

Ranma nodded. "It's something high level mages are taught in Hyurn, allows you to see magical traps and the threads of spells you might need to deal with or enhance."

Turning Makoto around, he studied the spells in greater detail, though the look made Makoto feel like her father was judging whether or not she was properly dressed for a date.

When he started to growl, she had to bite back a cry of terror.

"Did you know you had several outfit options besides the short skirts?"

The girls all blinked at that. "We do?" asked Rei.

Ranma nodded, his eyes still glowing with rage. "They were reset to what you wear now."

Artemis sighed. "That may have been the Mage Council's fault," said the white mooncat.

"All males?" asked Ranma.

"The female members had a meeting they were attending when the issue came up," said Artemis. "Only the males were there, and there had been some ... animosity about the fact that there were no male Senshi."

"And you know this ... why?" asked Luna.

"I was playing around with the Mercury Computer when the girls had that sleepover a few years ago and found it by accident," said Artemis.

"I knew I didn't leave it in the bathroom," murmured Ami. Her friends had teased her about that for months.

Ranma sighed. "I'll have to study the spells for a while before I even try to change that little setting," said Ranma.

"Why not do it now?" asked Rei.

"Because the last time I tried to do that without a full understanding, I ended up stuck in a harem girl outfit every time I shifted to my female form," said Ranma. "Worst years of my life," he finished, before beginning to mumble about perverted six-armed demons.

The girls could only stare as he walked off, continuing to mutter.

Makoto just sighed. She was eighteen and a fighter of evil ... and her dad was about ready to dress her up from now on.

_Sometimes, I miss being an orphan._

* * *

Ranma looked over some notes he had made from observing Makoto's magical armor—if it could be called that—as well as her focus, which she called a henshin rod.

He was familiar with both tools as well as the method that seemed to be powering them. After all, more than one warrior on Hyurn had tried to tie the mana of the entire world into a single weapon.

Said attempt usually ended up with Hyurn receiving a new crater that was wide enough to be in at least two time zones, and the resulting mess needing to be taken care of by every magic-user on the planet.

It was one of the few times the little armies weren't fighting each other. After all, if they didn't repair the damage, the planet itself could die or explode, and that was very bad for those in charge.

So the fact that someone had made it work was quite an impressive feat.

It was also one he hoped to keep away from Hyurn. He had enough trouble with wannabe rulers challenging him for power. It got so bad at times; the Royal Guard would often take bets on the numbers of and the time until they were killed by him.

And if some of the local mages learned of what the Senshi had, they'd stop at nothing to possess such a secret.

But for the moment, he needed to at least determine how to alter the settings on her focus so that it summoned a magic armor that offered more ... protection ... than a sailor fuku.

"Probably made by a previous life of Happosai," he muttered, studying the rune-filled pages.

Letting out a sigh, he began to dive into the work.

Or at least he tried, considering that one of his hellhounds had just jumped through his window ... a closed window.

"Mental note," he muttered, "teach Kaji to use a door.

"What have you got there, boy?" he asked, as the hellhound bounded gleefully over to his master ... complete with a large purple cat with bells in her hair.

Realizing what his faithful hound had brought him, Ranma could only utter a single word.

"Shit."

* * *

Hotaru yawned as she prepared to go to sleep. The day had taken more out of her than she realized.

But she did get one good thing out of it.

Her bed creaked slightly as one large hellhound crawled onto it, before lying down beside her, careful not to stick her with his back spines.

Smiling, Hotaru cuddled up to her new pet/defender/magical mascot. "Goodnight Shinji, sleep well."

Shinji licked his chops a bit, enjoying the fine meal he had eaten. Yes, he liked his new mistress very much.

That night, Hotaru went to bed very happy.

Little did she know, her parents would soon be supporting her new pet, especially after he ate any annoying pigeon that wandered near their house.

Stupid birds were always crapping on their cars.

* * *

"You're very lucky," said Ranma, looking across the table at a now human and fully clothed Shampoo. "Usually, the hellhounds will eat something that size." 

"I wasn't expecting you to have guard dogs from another world," muttered the Amazon.

Ranma shrugged.

"Where's Makoto?" asked Shampoo.

"She's staying with some friends tonight," said Ranma. He didn't mention that she was still a little weirded out by her own father slaying the enemy quicker than she could. Hell, he only summoned his armor when it looked like the things were going to make a break for it. Kami-sama only knew what that had just done to his career, let alone his private life.

Shampoo nodded, drinking some of her tea.

The sat in silence for a few more moments before Ranma spoke up. "Why are you here, Shampoo?"

The girl smiled, as she looked at her former Airen. It had hurt when she had been forced to leave, finally accepting that for the moment, they wouldn't be together. Now? "What did Nabiki tell you about why we left?"

Ranma sighed for a bit. "Nothing really. I asked her once, and she told me it was best if I didn't know. I let it drop after that."

Shampoo nodded, silently cursing the long dead Kino for leaving this task up to her. "What do you know about Amazon laws?"

"Enough to stay away from anymore prize tables," he chuckled.

Shampoo giggled a bit. Releasing a deep breath, she continued. "For a second failure to bring either you back to the village, or a child conceived by us, I would have been forever locked in my cursed form."

Ranma cringed at that. _Man, I was really an ass back then._ "What changed?" he asked. "You certainly aren't locked now."

Shampoo nodded. "Great-grandmother explained this to Nabiki when she came to see what it would take to get us to leave you alone. I admit, I was a bit of a moron back then with my methods, but I did truly love you. Of course, getting you to love me back was proving problematic. So much so, that when she offered me another option, my great-grandmother took it."

Ranma nodded, before he stopped, confusion running rampant. He was relatively certain that Nabiki hadn't tricked him into sleeping with Shampoo; body types were too different. So then how?

"So, she got some ... samples for us to use for artificial insemination."

Ranma blinked. "Where would she have gotten samples without me knowing?" he asked. He was relatively certain he didn't remember her asking him to do that into a Dixie cup.

"She used a brand of condom that didn't have any spermicidal gel," added the embarrassed Amazon.

Ranma blinked as he thought back to before the Amazons had left.

And then the memories hit him like a train. It was shortly after Nabiki and he had been together for the first time—shortly after she explained what 'friends with benefits' meant—when something changed.

She began to do more work involving their encounters. She planned time for them to be together, locations they could go without interruption from family, fiancées, or rivals. She even took care of buying ... the ... condoms.

"I should have known something was up," he muttered, setting down his tea and rubbing his head. "She didn't ask for anything extra, even volunteered to do the clean-up and let me shower first."

Shampoo nodded.

It was then that Ranma paled. "I ... I have other children?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Twins, a boy and a girl named Xenma and Xenko. There might have been more, but Mousse found the tank and he ... well, let's just say that even his grandmother couldn't protect him after that."

Ranma nodded, hearing the last bit, but more focused on the first. He was beginning to understand now why Nabiki hadn't told him this, even refusing to discuss it. After all, he'd never want to have his child not know him, as he had been forced to with his own mother. "Are they..."

"They're here in Japan with me," she said. "We're staying at the house of some of our local tribe members who are trying to set up some satellite village here in case the communists decide to start something."

"Can I..."

"I'll bring them by tomorrow," said Shampoo. "I don't believe they hold you any malice for how they came into the world. At best, they might be upset that you didn't bother to find out what happened to me when I left. But they understand a lot, especially what happened to you fourteen years ago."

Ranma nodded. "Um ... I have a photo shoot I have to be at tomorrow, but I'll be free after lunch. It's at Tokyo Tower."

"Okay then," smiled Shampoo as she stood up. Walking over to him, she bent over and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ranma. Take care of yourself."

He continued to sit there as she left, even as Kaji came up and lay on the floor beside the chair. For Ranma, a new bombshell had just exploded in his life.

And for once, he wasn't sure if he should be happy or upset with Nabiki for what she had done.

* * *

"OW! OW! OW!" cried Minako. "I'm sorry, Mako-chan!" yelled the blond.

Makoto currently had the girl in a headlock after Minako had mentioned something about 'hot fathers'. Needless to say, Makoto was still very protective over her father and her ideals that he would not be dating, marrying, or sleeping with a Senshi.

_That reminds me, I need to threaten Usa later on tonight. She's always hitting on older men._

"Please stop it you guys!" cried Usagi.

"Yes, do," growled out Rei. "I didn't agree to have this little sleepover here just for Makoto to beat up anyone hitting on her father."

The Senshi of Thunder blushed with embarrassment, as she finally let the Senshi of Love go.

Ami coughed a bit, gathering everyone's attention. "Now, I was hoping Artemis could explain a bit more about our history."

"Yes," said Usagi. "Like how come Mako-chan's father is so much stronger than us!"

"He can't be stronger than Dumpling Head," said Rei.

"WAH! Rei's so mean!"

"Actually, he is," said Artemis.

"WHAT?" yelled out Luna.

"But he doesn't have a planetary mana tap," said Ami.

"True," agreed the white moon cat, as he avoided a slap from Luna. "But he does have mastery over what power he does have. His fighting skills as well as the assorted weapons, armor, and what power he uses are used in such ways that he could easily defeat you as you are now."

"What does that mean?" asked Minako.

"I think it means that while we have a higher potential than Mako-chan's dad does, we haven't reached it," guessed Ami.

"Correct," said Artemis. "Right now, you guys are barely tapping into your true power."

"But what about the Ginzuishou?" asked Usagi.

"That works on the equal exchange of life force for magic," said Artemis.

"WAH! I'm going to die! I haven't even gotten to third base with Mamo-chan yet!"

"Um, Usagi," said Makoto, "life force is replenished by food and rest. Some people call it ki."

"Really," said Usagi. Seeing the tall Senshi nod, Usagi smiled. "Um ... okay ... could everyone forget what I said about Mamo-chan?"

"No matter how much I would like to," said the now green Usa.

"So what you're saying is that we aren't currently using our powers to their fullest extent?" asked Rei.

Artemis nodded. "As you grow and skill and training, you can use what power you have with better results. I wouldn't be surprised if youma that gave you trouble when you fought Beryl would be a cakewalk now."

Luna sighed. "But Makoto's father has had more fighting experience, more training, and apparently more reasons to use his powers than what you've had."

"You guys talk like we might need to fight my father," growled out Makoto, as she tried to remain smiling.

Of course, the peaceful image was somewhat ruined as she cracked her knuckles.

As the others shook their heads to agree that they weren't, Makoto slowly lowered her hands.

"Why would we want to hurt a fish chip like him," said Minako.

"DIE!" yelled the over-protective Senshi.

* * *

He stood at the pedestal, observing the stone giant before him. Though only the top half peeked above the darkness with the lower half hidden in the darkness, he still watched it.

It was made all the more impressive by the fact it was the one thing lit up within the underground cavern he was currently in, aside from the pedestal. He knew enough not to step beyond the pedestal, less he fall into the giant canyon that separated him from his goal.

"Report," he said, smiling at the giant, and not sparing the figure fading into existence behind him a look.

"We have confirmed the Emperor's location on a world called Earth," said the green skinned figure. As he looked up towards the man, his face showed, seven eyes blinking, with two rows of two eyes above and below a row of three eyes, each one glowing an eerie yellow.

"Excellent," said the man. "Soon, my Lord, we shall have what we need to return you to this world."

The green skinned man nodded, before fading out of sight.

"Soon," continued the man, "the Dark Chaos God shall walk over the lands of Hyurn, and slay the foul beast that dares control our people."

For a brief moment, the eyes of the statue glowed.

"I understand, my Lord," said the man, as he bowed, and stepped back into the darkness behind the pedestal.


	7. Journey of Discovery Part 2

**Papa's Back**

**Chapter 7**

**Journey of Discovery Part 2**

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

* * *

Ranma stared at the wall of the kitchen as the sun began to come up. It had been a short night, one that he thankfully had less to fear of looking drained from it, due to being used to odd sleeping times. After all, he didn't want to have bags under his eyes when he had his first male model shoot today since his return.

No, it was because of what he had learned the previous night from Shampoo, that sleep had been so elusive.

He had two more children.

Not that he hated them already, nor did he hate Nabiki and Shampoo for keeping such a secret from him.

No, the hate was directed towards the individual whom he felt deserved it: himself. They were two more children, aside from Makoto, that he had missed so much of their lives.

"Man, I've really screwed that promise to be a better father than my own," he muttered, as he rubbed his forehead.

Dropping his head on the table, he let out a tired sigh, even as the hellhounds began to enter the kitchen to receive their morning meal from their Master.

Growling, Ranma slowly stood up, his eyes slowly regaining their focus. Just because he had missed their lives to this point, didn't mean he needed to continue that track. Unlike the rest of his family, he would learn once more from his mistakes.

"I'll be their father," he murmured, as he prepared both himself and the hellhounds a meal.

"I promise," he whispered, as he continued to work.

* * *

She sat on the throne, the ruling seat of nearly the entire planet. For many, such was a desire they would move heaven and earth for, sacrifice all they had and ever would have to do so.

And for all its glory and prestige, she really couldn't give a damn.

"This is so boring," she sighed, propping her head up on the armrest. She was around six feet tall, with long red hair, red eyes, and a figure many women on Earth would die for ... including the strange wings that formed behind her.

"G'hot futyo verek!" yelled a large man-beast near her. He was nine feet tall, with yellow eyes, and resembled more of a cross between a man and hellhound than a man and a dog. The main differences were the spikes along his arms, and the heavy armor he wore.

"Like I give a damn how much of a fucking honor this is," she muttered. "This is worse than when I had to explain to Succubus Nation-State why Dad named me in Japanese," she muttered. "At least Mom made sure to get to pick my name."

"Hyu frox dwqi," said the guard, patting her on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Tanx," she smiled. "You always did know what to say to cheer me up.

"But really," she said, "how did Dad keep from being bored out of his skull. The way he tells it, someone would burst through that door, window, or a wall almost every day and try and kill him. I've been here since he returned to Earth, and not one damned soul has cried out 'Prepare to taste oblivion, Arainori Kino!' I mean, is it me, Tanx?"

Tanx shook his head.

"Think you're scaring them away?"

"Potri rwiq hutr frox."

"Right, Dad's a lot scarier than you," she sighed.

A knock on the throne room door broke the silence that had followed.

"Enter!" she commanded, hoping it was a challenger. She needed to vent some hormones. And a good battle did just as well as Option One. And sadly, there were no suitable partners nearby for Option One.

"Ma'am," said a bat-like demon, armored to the teeth, as he approached the throne from the open door. "We have received word from the South: The Brotherhood is active."

Arainori's smile grew. "Have they begun to attack our outposts near there?"

"Negative," said the bat guard, much to his Princess's disappointment. "From what we have gathered, they may have plans to attack your father directly."

"But Dad's on Earth," she said.

The bat guard nodded. "We believe they have shifted many of their resources to that goal."

"Hjiw ropr js huew wgye?" asked Tanx.

She nodded. "Prepare the First through Seven Battalions to invade their territory," said Arainori. "I want to know how many and what they have on Earth now! If they have already left for Earth, crush all resistance, and claim that land for our Nation!"

"Yes, my lady," said the guard, as he quickly departed.

"Gutwy ju?" asked Tanx.

"I'm going to warn Daddy-dearest," said Arainori.

"Lko phuti. Jkiey doue!"

"Please," said Arainori. "There are four others Father trusts to rules things if I needed to leave during his absence. Let them run things. He just gave it to me to keep me busy.

"I want to go have some time with ... Daddy," she said, as she left the room.

Tanx sighed. He really hated his job sometimes. If it wasn't the fact that he was guarding the Emperor's only daughter with the Queen Milu of the Succubus Nation-State, it was the fact that like her mother, she too saw her father as prime material for energy gathering.

Sometimes, it didn't pay to leave the swamps. Human-like creatures were so damn infuriating at times.

* * *

Ranma sighed as he looked over the skyline, a grand view offered by the restaurant he was currently waiting for his new family in.

_A son? Another daughter?_

It still shook him that things had been so different, even before he left. He had a whole other family that he knew nothing about. How long before Shampoo would have told him, if he had somehow managed to stay in this world? Would it have mattered?

Could he have forgiven Nabiki for breaking his trust like that? Could she have even told him the truth? If she had, if Shampoo had told him beforehand, would he have consented?

He stared back out into the city, trying to find some comfort. There was some good news so far that day, people who remembered his old life merely assumed that he had disappeared now to fight demons during his enforced vacation. It was the truth in a way; he had fought a lot of demons on Hyurn.

A lot...

Sometime, he felt like there would be a shorter list of people on Hyurn that he didn't face in battle in one form or another.

Of course, the public could take a kernel of truth, and run it into a story unmatched by any other fiction. So now; they assumed he had returned from fighting the forces of the demon that had slew his wife and now decided to assist the Sailor Senshi in protecting the city.

He could have done without the instant polls that a few of the networks were doing to see which Senshi he was with or likely to date in the future. It took all his mental strength not to throw up when they placed Sailor Jupiter as third. The last thing he needed was to offer a reaction that might incriminate his daughter somehow into the public eye, either as a love interest, or wonder why the thought of such would make him ill.

"The public can be a pain at times," he muttered.

"You should visit the mountains of China then," said a female voice, close by. "We have our ways of dealing with Outsiders."

He paused, cursing himself for not noticing their arrival, as he turned to see ... them.

Shampoo had come in a slender pantsuit, her usual style, with more down-played colors. Time had been very good to her, and he found her beauty played well in her native outfits, more so than the dresses he received from his last shoot as Ranko.

The two behind her, Xenma and Xenko, if he was to guess, showed the same ability as their mother to look good in whatever they wore. Both were wearing clothing more in line with Japanese tastes than Chinese. Then again, Shampoo most likely had to buy them local fashions to fit in.

This wasn't Nerima. People tried to blend in the best that they could.

"So Old Man," growled the boy, "you gonna offer us a seat or what? Ow!" he cried, as Shampoo bopped him quickly on the head, fast enough not to be noticed by any nearby patrons. The staff had been gracious enough to offer them a booth with privacy.

"Forgive him, Airen," said Shampoo. "I'm afraid he takes a bit too much after his great-great-grandmother."

"He does look a little like a monkey," said Xenko, before she too was soon rubbing her head.

Ranma chuckled a bit, the scene itself reminding him of his youth. "Seems like my attitude was passed down as well."

"Better that then the attitude of a certain stupid panda," Shampoo smirked, as she motioned for them to sit and enjoy a meal. "How long do you have before you have to return to your shoot?"

"Done for the day," said Ranma. "The Agency is pretty good about getting a staff that can do the job under budget and at great quality."

Shampoo nodded. "And your little jaunt with the Senshi?"

"I expect I'll be labeled either an avenging angel, or a repenting demon," he said with a sad shake of his head.

"Why not tell them the truth?" asked Xenma.

"Hell, the Senshi are thought to be a rumor outside of Minato Ward," said Ranma. "The people will believe what they want, the media will show what they want, and the publications will print what they want.

"In the end, I could spout the truth all I want, and they won't listen until they want to," said Ranma.

"I see Nabiki taught you to read public opinion," said Shampoo.

He smirked. "That and what I've learned from where I've been for the last decade plus," he said.

"Can we start this whole family bonding crap now?" asked Xenko. "I'd rather not spend too much time listening to you two talk about the 'good old days' and stuff."

Ranma shook his head. And he thought this was going to be hard.

* * *

_In the past..._

Nabiki lay on the beach, enjoying the sun, as her husband and child continued to play in the surf. _He'll probably have to go reapply the waterproof soap soon._

She did enjoy the occasional trips around the world. After all, it was all expenses paid, their daughter was not yet at the age where school was necessary, and she could take care of the pre-school education. It felt nice not to be tied down to an office, a degree, or even a homeland that memories often didn't make it feel welcoming.

It also helped that it was her job to do such things. Working for your model-husband did have some great benefits.

"Sometimes, I think I have truly found paradise."

She looked over her sunglasses, catching the giggling form of her daughter, as her father helped her enjoy learning to swim. Well, he wanted her to enjoy it. The way he had learned had left a lot to be desired.

"Paradise lost," she sighed, as that little thought led to an immediate recall of why they would once again not be spending the upcoming holiday season with either of their families.

For his, the reasons were still the same: Nodoka and Genma were both demanding that they rejoin the Saotome clan, despite the fact it would just reactivate all those promises that Genma had made. No, the baka panda had yet to even begin to untangle the knot he had made in the family honor. And there was no way either she or Ranma were going to expose their daughter so such a situation. Their private investigators had already found three promises Genma had made to engage Ranma's children to people.

It was probably best that Ranma never found out exactly what Genma had received for said promises.

Nodoka herself was sadly not bringing her husband to task, merely supporting him in his tirades to force them to rejoin the clan.

Whether it was Genma's greed or Nodoka's willingness to turn a blind eye, the Saotome family was not likely to be receiving the Kino family as guests anytime soon.

And then there was her own family.

Kasumi had married Tofu a few years back, shortly after Nabiki herself had been married. As such, while free of her father's stupidity and constant badgering, she was perhaps the only connection to their previous life that the couple had left. Kasumi tried to put everything into a positive light, but no matter how many times you polished a board, it would not change the fact that termites infested it. The woman was still halfway caught between a dream and a reality. And to be honest, it was something that Nabiki hoped her sister would grow out of soon. But at least they would meet over the holidays.

Her father was upset that she had left the clan. But to be honest, it was always hard **not** to upset the man in some way. The man was constantly bouncing from one extreme to another, blaming everyone and himself for what the couple had done. No, her father would not be inviting them over.

Akane? No, that was the main thorn in their path. She had been more than willing to let Akane have him in the beginning. For starters, the curse had put her off, his father was a sleaze, and his IQ was never likely to exceed 'fast food manager' in anything scholastic.

But he grew.

Sadly, Akane didn't. As time went on, the Tendo heir continued to spin her wheels, to stay in set patterns, set assumptions, and set denials. She may have loved Ranma, lover him more than Nabiki ever could. But the girl refused to change.

And what doesn't change will eventually die out.

But Akane had once again remained unchanged, refusing to see the signs. Well, that wasn't true; she just refused to change how she interpreted the signs.

For love to grow, things must have a constant theme, something that will survive all changes, yet change itself to grow as the love does.

Akane didn't see that. She didn't see Ranma distancing himself from the fiancées, didn't trust that his jobs were not 'dates with some tramp', did not try and see he was trying to swim in the Sea of Honor, with more baggage that would have drowned an iceberg.

But she did. She saw the changes, saw him grow, and saw him develop friends in the industry, learn, adapt, and grow up. He achieved the mental development to be an adult, instead of the constant kid who could no more relate to something than a preteen.

She saw it, Akane didn't.

She fell in love and adapted. Akane didn't.

She admitted her love to him first, instead of waiting for him to. Akane didn't; even when she had confided to her sisters what she had heard during the Saffron Incident. And even then, she didn't respond, wanting him to say it yet again before she'd even consider saying a response. And that was assuming it wouldn't be a retort about 'perverts'.

No, Akane had made her bed, and was finding it quite difficult. The last she had heard, the girl had married a fellow actor.

_She always did put more fire into acting than she did the Art._

No, she had no doubt Akane still carried a grudge, despite her own marriage. The girl saw what had happened first as both Ranma taking advantage of Nabiki, and Nabiki scheming something on him. Then add to it them leaving the clan, and the Tendo seemed to let her bitterness and paranoia consume her.

"I'm just glad she didn't get anything near us," sighed Nabiki, as she saw her husband and child slowly make their way back to her. Even if the beach they were on was for the resort guests only, it was quickly starting to fill up.

"Enough swimming today?" asked Nabiki.

"Nah, little Mako-chan's getting sleepy," said Ranma.

"Am not," said the girl, before she yawned loudly. "I wanna swim some more, Daddy!"

"After lunch and a nap," he said, smiling.

She opened her mouth to protest, when her stomach let out a small growl. Said growl was then answered by Ranma's own stomach.

Nabiki giggled a bit at that. "Well, let's go get rinsed off and order some room service."

Ranma smiled, helping Nabiki up, as she began to pack their stuff. "Enjoy the sun?"

"Enjoyed the peace and quiet after the last few days," she replied, stuffing the towels into her bag. "When you tell some companies we will call them back in a few days, you'd think they'd wait more than one before trying to call back."

"Have Daddy bop 'em!" cheered Makoto, as she began to lean back onto her father, her eyes slowly starting to close.

"Looks like we might need the nap first," said Ranma, as he watched his daughter lose the fight against sleep.

"Fine with me," said Nabiki, yawning herself. "I think we could all use some cuddle-time."

Ranma chuckled a bit. "She'll probably be up as soon as we shower the surf off us. Besides, a nice nap after we eat'll do us all some good."

She nodded, as she took his free hand, and walked with him towards the hotel showers.

No, this was not the place to dwell on bad memories of family lost. This was a time to relax and enjoy a small vacation on the company yen.

Besides, they had all the time in the world to fix their family problems. Right?

* * *

Akane growled as she sat in the teacher's lounge during a free period, trying to decide what to do.

He was back.

HE was back.

**HE WAS BACK!**

It took all of her self-control not to crush the mug in her hands, let alone not tear up the planner in front of her.

She had always suspected he was still out there somewhere. She knew that her bitch of a sister was dead; they had seen the body at the funeral that Kasumi had dragged her to, before she was cremated.

Hell, the only good thing from her point of view was that the Old Pervert was dead as well. His ashes were currently in a sealed box deep within the Sea of Japan.

Nabiki's ashes, however, were with Kasumi. And no matter how much Akane begged, she just wouldn't dispose of them; saying 'family should let anger go at the grave, not follow into it with it as a guide.'

Akane sighed as she began to rub her forehead. Sometimes, her sister was just too forgiving.

But in their minds, they always suspected, that **he** was still alive somewhere. The best that Kasumi had ever gotten out of that piece of trash child of his was that Ranma had forced whatever the pervert had summoned, back into the portal, when it closed.

She had felt somewhat vindicated with that knowledge. He was in Hell, being punished for being the lying bastard he had been.

And yet he had somehow come back to their world. And what was the first thing he did. He went to fight again, and with Senshi of all people.

Kai had even started to ask her questions about what the guy had done to upset her. No, she wasn't about to drag her son into this stuff.

It didn't mean she couldn't drag Ranma into it. She had waited so long to have her peace, and he just shows up once again and ruins it.

No, not this time. Him and his little trash daughter were going to understand their positions as far as she was concerned. She was not going to have them 'contaminate' her son.

And nothing he could do would stop her from proving that to him.


End file.
